Mount Si boys tennis players gained experience and a handful of doubles and singles victories this season, their first in Kingco 4A.
The Wildcats had a tough season among the bigger schools, failing to chalk a single team win, but individual players and doubles squads found success during the fall.
The team had two doubles players and four singles players advance to the league tournament, October 29 at Skyline.
In the first round, Mount Si singles players Danny Tomson and George Corriveau fell in matches with opponents from Eastlake and Inglemoor, 6-2, 6-1 and 6-0, 6-0, respectively.
In doubles, the pairing of Matthew Griffin and John Day put up a good fight, 6-3, 7-5, falling to Eastlake’s Jerry Shen and Rowland Townsend. Jacob Holmes and Ryan Cantalini, both sophomores, fell to Issaquah’s Sam Reardon and Cyrus Chang, 6-1, 6-1.
For a while, Griffin was controlling the match. “They had the momentum,” coach Jim Gibowski said. But it was tough to hang with the second-best team in 4A KingCo.
The good thing is that five of the six league players are underclassmen. Griffin is the only senior, a four-year varsity letterer for Mount Si.
Mount Si boys tennis had the most matches in its history this fall, playing 13 of 14 scheduled. Several were fairly close, against Sammamish, Liberty and Juanita, “our old rivals,” Gibowski said.
Much of the team should return, including Holmes, a sophomore, who played mostly singles this season.
“He was really seeing the court, he was adaptable, playing the net better,” said Gibowski.
Day, a junior, and Cantalini got physically bigger in the season.
“John, he is getting bigger and stronger, he’s my number-two guy,” Gibowski said.
“My doubles played really well together, especially my two and three doubles.” The third-doubles pair, Vince DiDomenico and Danny Tomson, won close to half their matches.
“That shows we have some depth in the bottom, but it’s hard to compete. 4A is definitely a harder conference. There is no break in the schedule.”
Tomson is a basketball player and a scrapper. Next year, look for him and George Corriveau to be paired for one or two spot.
This year, the number-one doubles spot was held down by Royce Schwartzenberger and Brady Thomas. Like the Mount Si singles group of Griffin, Day, Holmes and Cantalini, finding wins against experienced KingCo 4A teams was a challenge.
“One doubles is tough,” the coach said.
In a fluid lineup, Gibowski had singles players playing doubles at Kingco. Griffin, Day, Cantalini and Holmes each played doubles several times over the season.
“It’s good for high school players to play both,” Gibowski said. “That said, it’s a big advantage if you play more and more together—it makes a big difference for communication.” Griffin and Day improved in their short time together. If they had had more time together, who knows?
Doubles wins
Throughout the season, Mount Si saw the most success in its lower doubles duos.
On Sept. 18 against Sammamish, number-four singles player Jacob Holmes beat his opponent, Ryan Ching, 7-6 (8-6), 2-6, 6-0. At number-two doubles, Sherwin Nelson and George Corriveau beat Rey Ching and Aaron Furstman, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. At number three doubles, DiDomenico and Tomson beat Hoe Inowl and Stephan Robert, 3-6, 6-3, 10-5. Mount Si nearly won that meet, 3-4, one of their closest chances of the season.
Against Sammamish on October 2, the number two doubles team of Griffin and Day beat their opponents, 6-1, 6-2, while the number-three squad of Holmes and Corriveau won, 6-1, 6-2.
On Oct. 14, the number-two squad of Jonah Kingery and George Corriveau beat Woodinville’s Jonathan McCuistion, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. The number-three doubles team of DiDomenico and Tomson beat Paul Sutton and Jonathan Mitchell, 6-2, 6-0.
Mount Si was winless in recent matches against Bothell, Newport, Redmond and Inglemoor.
