On the last day of August, the boys JV tennis team brought the Byron Center Bulldogs to home turf. Facing a long-awaited battle, they started strong with one doubles grabbing the first win 8-5. The rest of the flights were slightly less fortunate, with all first matches being lost. Scores were extremely close, and the Bulldogs and Rangers displayed equal skill levels, yet luck was on the opposing side for now.

Between matches, the boys can come off the court and reset. Times like these are essential to regroup before heading back out. This is also where Coach Timyan comes into play.

Timyan states, “It’s very important to have good development on both the social and athletic parts of a JV team. If you have kids that develop really strong socially, they might not be as strong in tennis; or you might have kids that develop strongly tennis-wise, but they don’t have the social side. It’s really important to mold those two together.”

He does this by encouraging and uplifting the team between these breaks, which helps build a close relationship between him and the boys. Sometimes the support of a coach is all a team may need to gain back traction, and the boys did just that in the remainder of their Byron Center match. From being down 1-3, they fought back to flip the tables, winning the next matches 3-1. The team had a solid performance to tie the Bulldogs 4-4.

Following a week and a half break, the team’s next stop was the Grandville Tri. The top three flights for the day, one singles, one doubles A, and one doubles B, made quick work of Grandville. Not a single match was dropped between them, but unfortunately, the same could not be said for the lower flights.

Second doubles put up a great fight but fell in a nail-biting match 7-9. The third doubles played two matches but couldn’t find the strength to execute a win in either. Last but not least, the fourth doubles pulled off a fantastic turnaround after losing their first match; their scores were 2-8, 8-3.

Overall, the boys managed to hold off losses from both schools, making for a good week. Their record now sits at a comfortable 3-2-2, but they hope to make it 4-2-2 against Northview on Monday, September 12, at home.