ARLINGTON — Both Arlington and Stanwood came into their Sept. 25 meeting riding winning streaks.
At four games for Stanwood and five for the Eagles, it was the visitors who improved their record, taking all but one singles and doubles contest for a 5-2 conference win.
Arlington’s streak included a 5-2 win at Snohomish Sept. 16, ending that school’s home winning streak which spanned several seasons.
At fourth singles, Marty Thordarson continued to shine brightly for Arlington, improving to an 8-0 record for the season as he defeated Drew Pollack 6-2, 6-1. Second doubles duo Josiah Aylesworth and David Taft-Farren also won their match for Arlington, bouncing back from a 6-3 loss in the first set to defeat Joel Shroyer and Spencer Jones 7-6, 6-4 in the next two.
“Stanwood played really consistently,” said Arlington tennis coach Sean Cunningham. “Their doubles teams were a little stronger at the top and bottom than we were in this match. The first singles was a key match for us. Both players were evenly matched, but Teague Nelson did a very good job of finishing. Ari (Fernando) played very tight but couldn’t finish.”
Fernando was defeated 7-5, 7-5 in close sets.
At second singles, Eric McElroy forced three sets in his loss, winning the first set 6-2.
“I knew it was going to be a tight match, but they played a far more consistent match,” Cunningham said. “Both teams wanted to win, but Stanwood was just more consistent under pressure.”
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