POULSBO — Tennis is a sport in which every inch counts. This was especially true for the Kingston High School Buccaneers School tennis squad against the Port Angeles Roughriders Monday afternoon. Unfortunately for members of the KHS team, PA inched them out, winning by the slimmest of margins and nabbing a 4-3 victory in an Olympic League tennis match in Poulsbo.
“Our team is still doing great. (PA) is a pretty big school,” said Bucs coach Ken Crawford. “It easily could have gone our way today.”
The No. 1 doubles duo consisting of Chris Hall and Ben VanKleek improved its overall record to 5-0 after quickly disposing of the Roughriders top combination of Jeff Crumb and Micah Ross 2-0 (6-2, 7-6).
“We found a way to win,” Hall said. “There may be better players out there than us, but we work hard and play together and find a way to win like we did today.”
Crawford said this was the first time Hall and Vankleek have been in the lineup as the No. 1 doubles team.
“This was their first match as the No. 1 squad. Before they were the No. 2 doubles team but they got moved up,” he said. “They work really well together and talk stuff out on the court. It seems to work for them and they are still undefeated.”
Kingston’s No. 4 doubles team of Rob Kinnaird and Sean Johnstone earned their first victory as a duo this season 2-1 (6-4, 1-6, 6-3) against Karsten Fairchild and Kreig Thompson of PA. It was the first match of Kinnaird’s career.
“I’m surprised I even played today. I didn’t think I was going to even be in the lineup,” Kinnaird said. “I kind of got thrown in there at the last minute.”
Kinnaird’s teammate Johnstone approved of the tennis rookie’s showing.
“Rob performed like a champion,” Johnstone said. “Even though we’re a young team, we can compete with anybody.”
The Buccaneers final victory of the match came off the racquet of No. 3 singles player Mitch Icard who defeated PA opponent Kevin Richter 2-0 (7-5, 6-3).
“This was the first time I played singles this year. I like it better. I don’t have to depend on a partner to get serves in,” Icard said. “Today’s match was a battle of serves. I got my serves in and he didn’t.”
Crawford is a fan of Icard’s confidence on the court.
“Mitch is a heck of a competitor. Nothing seems to faze him,” Crawford said. “He keeps his game under control.”
The final match of the day was a dandy as the Bucs No. 1 singles player Jerol Bird battled it out with PA top player Jeremy Fu.
It was a marathon match lasting nearly 135 minutes that was truly a see-saw battle. Fu was able to grind his way out to a 2-1 victory (5-7, 6-1, 7-6) against Bird. Both players were visibly fatigued throughout the contest.
Crawford said he was impressed with Bird’s play even though he fell just short of victory.
“Jerol looked awesome out there. It was a back and forth kind of match,” he said. “He played fantastic and had some great strokes.”
The Buccaneers (2-3) will have a chance to hit their way back to the winning column at 4 p.m. today against Klahowya at the North Kitsap High School tennis courts in Poulsbo.
