Hounds fall to 4A Gonzaga Prep

Shorthanded Pullman dropped a series of closely contested matches to fall to larger-division foe Gonzaga Prep in a nonleague season-opener for both teams.

Each team posted two straight-sets wins. The other three contests were extended battles that went to deciding third sets, with the Bullpups taking all of them.

The highlight match of the day was a grueling two-and-a-half-hour No. 1 singles battle between Pullman’s Aditya Bose-Bandyopadhyay and G-Prep’s standout freshman Tiernan Waggoner, who prevailed 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. At No. 1 doubles, the Greyhounds’ sophomore Daniel Schertenleib and freshman Nathan Sutton, also making his career debut, took over in the second set for a convincing 6-4, 6-0 win.

“Gonzaga Prep is a strong, growing program two size classifications above us,” said Pullman coach Cody Wendt, who also noted that his team was missing two of its top five players due to extracurricular conflicts, with another varsity starter withdrawing ahead of match time due to injury. “We fought them hard with the group we had, but it didn’t quite work out today. You can’t go on winning them all forever.”

This was the first team head-to-head defeat for the Pullman boys, in or out of league, in nearly five years since April 2019. It broke a 42-dual winning streak.\

–Cody Wendt

Singles – Tiernan Waggoner, GP, def. Aditya Bose-Bandyopadhyay 6-1, 3-6, 6-4; Benjamin Lee, Pul, def. Luke Lemberg 6-2, 3-2, ret.; Jack Bragg, GP, def. Reed Newell 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-2; Jason Do, GP, def. Caleb Snider 6-2, 6-1.

Doubles – Daniel Schertenleib/Nathan Sutton, Pul, def. Ethan Hatzke/Lucas Wehr 6-4, 6-0; Nolan Lemberg/Cian Dougherty, GP, def. Lysander Elgar/Nathan Yan 6-2, 7-6 (10); Tanner Bergstedt/Nathan Koenig, GP, def. Svanik Bose/Matthew Yan 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.