On Wednesday the boys varsity tennis team played against the Falcons of East Kentwood. The Rangers had a tough time dominating in the match. The Falcons continue to get better every season, so FHC knew they had a tough challenge before the match even started. In the end the Rangers were able to pull out the 5-4 win. 

In the match the Rangers had two flights win the third set, which ultimately helped FHC secure the win. One of those flights was one singles, which is junior Nick Sjolin. In the beginning Nick claimed the lead early on in the set and he was able to kept it, winning 6-1. In the second set he lost 6-4, and in the tiebreaker he won 10-6.

“Keeping my head in the game was my main goal during my match,” Nick said. “It got a lot more difficult as the match went on because I began to get nervous once I lost the second match.”

Along with Nick, one doubles won in the third set. Junior Advith Reddy and sophomore Chris Battiste had a back-and-forth match right up until the end, when they began to have a solid lead over the Falcons. They won their first set 6-4 and lost their second set 6-3. In the tiebreaker, their communication was there and they were able to pull ahead and win the set 10-7.

“While I was playing I just remembered that if I lost one point in the match that it isn’t over,” Chris said. “East Kentwood was a good opponent and we needed to bring our ‘A’ game in order to compete with them, and I think we did.”  

Three doubles also had a tough match. Sophomores Jeremy James and Ben Koning were the only team that was able to dominate against the Falcons. They won the first set 6-3 and the second set 6-2. Their serves were very hard to return, allowing them to win by so much.

This win puts the Rangers’ OK White Conference record at 4-1. Their next match is on Monday against Greenville. Coach Dan Bolhouse had faith that FHC could pull through and win. As the season goes on he is constantly thinking about what the team needs to do to be able to go to States.

“I’m proud of the development of our team,” Bolhouse said. “We lost a lot of talent last season, so going into this season we had a lot of new faces.  The new guys look and play like veterans now.”