Pirates outlast Eagles in four-hour marathon

By Mike Maksymicz

CRYSTAL RIVER — As the sun set and the air got cooler, the Crystal River boys tennis team finally beat the Gainesville’s Oak Hall 5-2. The victory gave the Pirates a 2-0 record at the onset of the season.

“I was pleased with all the boys’ performances tonight,” Pirates head coach Bill Reyes said.

In the beginning, the No. 1 singles match proved to be a challenge for Crystal River’s Brandon Papp.

Papp took the first set 6-3 but had some problems, yielding the second set 0-6 to the Eagles’ Harrison Thibault. Papp did, however, regain control by winning the third set 6-3 to take the match.

Crystal River’s No. 2 singles player Travis Swanson has an easier time defeating Aman Kabeer 6-2, 6-3 for his win.

The Pirates’ Matt Allen needed three sets to claim a 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Oak Hall’s Logan Blaser.

Crystal River’s Ryan Johnson did not have the same good fortune as the Eagles’ Brendon Cooke took the victory with sets of 3-6, 7-6, 6-2. This match lasted four hours as the two competitors battled back and forth in a slow-paced contest.

Aaron Molinero gave the Pirates a win in the last singles match by defeating Neil Duncan 6-3, 6-2.
In the doubles competition, the No. 1 Pirates team Papp and Swanson won the pro-set match 8-3 over Thibault and Kabeer.

However, Crystal River’s Allen and Johnson played a barn burner at No. 2 doubles that saw an 8-8 tie. The resulting tiebreaker of 9-7, however, favored the Eagles for the win.

The Pirates host Citrus at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.