Big win for Jays

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The Jamestown Blue Jay boys’ tennis team took a giant leap in the right direction in Bismarck on Thursday night.

Tied 3-3 with the Demons after all the singles matches were in the books, the Jays went on to take 2 of 3 doubles matches to earn the 5-4 victory.

The win was a big one, to say the least for the Jays, who didn’t earn a dual victory all of last season.

“It was a huge team win tonight. It’s something we can build on,” JHS coach Pat Mullowney said. “We’ve been close this year, and to finally find a way to dig down and get a team win was big.”

Jamestown’s No. 1 and No. 2 singles players, Matt Graves and Ryan Sanders, stumbled against the Demons, but Danny Fischer, Alex Reed and Mitch Smyth were there to pick up the slack.

Fischer bested Bismarck’s Jared Spooner at No. 3 singles 6-4, 6-2, while Reed and Smyth dominated at No. 4 and No. 6 singles, respectively, 6-0, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-2.

“Again tonight, I felt we could have done better at singles,” Mullowney said. “It really puts the pressure on the doubles teams, but our No. 2 and No. 3 teams found a way.”

Fischer and Riley Schafer defeated Willi Ulness and Austin Meuchel at No. 2 doubles, while Cameron Love and Chase Marker sealed the dual win with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Bismarck’s Quinn Cullen and David Keys at No. 3.

“Chase and Cameron had a back-and-forth match, but they were able to find a way to get a few big points and got the win,” Mullowney said. “We have three new doubles teams at the varsity level, and they’re really learning how to play doubles properly and their games are coming on. It’s nice to see.

“Danny and Mitch had really critical singles wins for us,” Mullowney added. “Danny just cruised in his singles match, and he played pretty strong in doubles as well. It was an outstanding match for him overall.”

The Blue Jays hope to carry their momentum into next Thursday’s match against Williston at Bolinger Courts.

“We plan to build on it and hopefully see some continued success as we get further into the West Region,” Mullowney said.

JHS 5, Bismarck 4

Singles

No. 1: Jaden Wirrenga, BHS def. Matt Graves, 6-3, 6-2

No. 2: Willi Ulness, BHS def. Ryan Sanders, 6-1, 6-2

No. 3: Danny Fischer, JHS def. Jared Spooner, 6-4, 6-2

No. 4: Alex Reed, JHS def. Quinn Cullen, 6-0, 6-1

No. 5: Austin Meuchel, BHS def. Cameron Love, 6-1, 6-1

No. 6: Mitch Smyth, JHS def. David Keys, 6-1, 6-2

Doubles

No. 1: Wirrenga/Spooner, BHS def. Graves/Reed, 6-4, 7-4 (4)

No. 2: Fischer/Riley Schafer, JHS def. Ulness/Meuchel, 6-3, 6-2

No. 3: Love/Chase Marker, JHS def. Cullen/Keys, 6-4, 6-4.

Sun sports writer Michael Savaloja can be reached at (701) 952-8461 or by email at mikes@jamestownsun.com

Tags: high school, sports, jays, tennis, boys, jhs