POULSBO — The match may not have counted in the league standings, but it was worth something much more to tennis players from Kingston High School and North Kitsap High School.

It was about bragging rights and pride as the Buccaneers and Vikings tennis programs faced one another in non-league play for the first time Tuesday afternoon in Poulsbo.

Just 11 months ago, most of the players competing shared the court as teammates flying the North Kitsap Vikings banner.

“I’ve coached all but two of them last year,” NKHS coach Jay Devries said of the Bucs. “Today’s match will kind of look like challenge matches from last year. I know all of them. It’s nice to be able to come watch a tennis match and root for everybody.”

Prior to the first set, KHS coach Ken Crawford said his players were excited about facing their former teammates on the court.

“Our kids are pretty psyched up about playing them. Last year they were all together on one big giant team,” he said. “They get to play against their friends.”

And play they did.

While the Vikings ended up capturing a 3-2 victory in the end, the feeling of the match was one of a warm homecoming, which helped offset the day’s bitter cold.

“It rained all morning and cleared up in the afternoon,” Devries said. “When the season turns into October you never know what kind of weather you’re going to get.”

Of the loss, Crawford admitted he thought his players would perform better against their former teammates.

“I thought it would be more even. They know them really well and I thought we could use that to our advantage,” he said. “Even though we lost, it was a fun match and I wanted them to emphasize having a good time against their friends.”

North’s No. 1 doubles duo of Conner Gallagher and Joe McBurney improved its record to 9-2 this season, beating Bucs Chris Hall and Ben VanKleek 2-0 (6-1, 6-1).

Gallagher said they knew what to expect against their former teammates.

“When you know how the other team is going to play, it makes it so much easier,” he said. “We knew what to do against them.”

McBurney said he felt good about starting a new rivalry off on the right foot.

“The rivalry between North Kitsap and Kingston has started now,” he said. “It felt good to win.”

The Vikings No. 2 doubles team of Tyler Seth and TJ French cruised to a 2-0 (6-3, 6-2) win against Sam Shoemaker and Nick Anderson.

“Consistency was the reason why we won,” French said. “We were careful, didn’t take a lot of chances and played safe. We didn’t try to smash the ball but we set up our forehands and backhands.”

North’s No. 3 doubles team of Andrew Friesen and Tom Essenpreis cemented the team victory for the Vikings after sweeping Cole Johnstone and Sean Johnstone 2-0 (7-5, 6-4).

“We could have played better but it feels good to clinch the victory for our team today,” Essenpreis said.

Kingston didn’t go away all day long, finishing with two victories in the match. The Bucs just fell one win away from capturing victory as a team.

Bucs No. 1 singles player Jerol Bird defeated Andrew Kilpatrick 2-1 (6-2, 5-7, 6-1) in a hard fought battle lasting for nearly two hours.

“He’s a really good player,” Bird said of Kilpatrick. “I was pretty confident. Last year he played No. 2 singles and I played No. 2 doubles for North.”

The Buccaneers second victory came off the racquet of No. 2 singles player Jon Sudduth, who came up with a 2-0 (6-3, 6-3) victory against Rex Olson.

“I was a lot quicker than him so I had him running from side to side. I was able to place the ball well,” Sudduth said.

He took pride in winning a match against his former coach at North Kitsap.

“It’s good to win against coach Devries,” he said with a smile.