Boys Fall to GPrep

Gonzaga Prep 4, Pullman 3

PULLMAN — The host Greyhounds twice came within a single bounce of a ball of bringing down larger-division standout Gonzaga Prep in a nonleague team dual, but it was ultimately not to be.

Five of the day’s seven matches went the distance after the first two sets were split. Reed Newell delivered the Hounds’ lone straight-set win, avenging a loss to the Bullpups’ Jack Bragg from last year with a 6-3, 6-1 showing.

The highest combined standard of play came in a battle of sophomores at No. 1 singles marked by furious all-court rallies, where the Hounds’ Nathan Sutton rallied repeatedly before going down to Gonzaga Prep’s Tiernan Waggoner with a final scoreline of 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. The top doubles pairing of Mir Park and Lysander Elgar righted the ship to prevail 6-0, 6-7 (2), 6-2 for Pullman (1-1).

The dual came down to the last-on-court No. 4 singles contest, with each team having picked up three match wins. In the grueling encounter, Pullman’s Quincy Hawreliak went to two tiebreak sets with G-Prep’s Cian Dougherty, winning the first and dropping the second, after which the two contested a match-deciding super-tiebreak with everything on the line as daylight faded. Hawreliak and Dougherty each held two match points, and each looked to be in a winning position at times before his opponent found extra reserves and clutch play to prolong the affair. The end finally came on the fifth overall match point when a Hawreliak overhead attempt sat up on the top of the tape before settling on his side of the net, with the final scoreline reading 7-6 (7), 6-7 (2), 14-12 in Dougherty’s favor.

The Bullpups are worthy rivals

Of that, there can be no denial. 

Our Hounds were courageous,

Far beyond their age — yes, 

And they’ll persist past this and all trials.

Singles — Tiernan Waggoner, GP, def. Nathan Sutton 6-2, 4-6, 6-3; Reed Newell, Pul, def. Jack Bragg 6-3, 6-1; Kai Van Vurler, GP, def. Daniel Schertenleib 6-0, 6-2; Cian Dougherty, GP, def. Quincy Hawreliak 7-6 (7), 6-7 (2), 14-12.

Doubles — Mir Park/Lysander Elgar, Pul, def. Ethan Hatzke/Nolan Lemberg 6-0, 6-7 (2), 6-2; Svanik Bose/Charles Liu, Pul, def. Tanner Bergstedt/Spencer Bergstedt 6-3, 2-6, 6-3; Dylan Lee/Mason Hatzke, GP, def. Matthew Yan/Nathan Yan 6-3, 6-4.

~Cody Wendt