LOGAN — The Chapmanville and Logan High School tennis teams took on Winfield in a tri-match at the Chief Logan Recreational Center on Saturday.
The Winfield boys defeated Chapmanville by an overall score of 6-2.
In No. 1 singles, the Generals’ William Sinclair beat the Tigers’ Colson Vance 8-2. In No. 2 singles, Winfield’s Connor Waybright topped Gabe Conley of CRHS 8-0.
The No. 3 singles match saw Winfield’s Andrew Sinclair beat Chapmanville’s Stephen Stowers 8-0, and Dylan Winarta of the Generals edged the Tigers’ Seth Freeman 9-7 in No. 4 singles.
Vance and Conley were shutout by William Sinclair and Waybright 8-0 in No. 1 doubles while Stowers and Freeman lost 8-6 in No. 2 doubles to Andrew Sinclair and Winarta. Luke Saunders and Chase Bumgarner of CRHS won 8-2 over Winfield’s Nick Winarta and Andrew Gilchrist.
However, the Chapmanville girls shut out the Generals 7-0 overall.
Courtney Curnutte of CRHS beat Meredith Tate of Winfield 8-1 in No. 1 singles while the Tigers’ Emma Bryant shutout Winfield’s Kaitlyn Arthur 8-0 in No. 2 singles. Chapmanville’s Natalie Chirico topped the Generals’ Hailey Bennett 8-3 in No. 3 singles, and Madison Baker of the Tigers defeated Winfield’s Miley Wiseman 8-3 in No. 4 singles.
Chapmanville swept the three girls doubles matches as Curnutte and Chirico beat Tate and Bennett 8-0 in No. 1 doubles, Bryant and Baker topped Arthur and Wiseman 8-2 in No. 2 doubles, and the Tigers’ Emily Hughes and Faith Conley shutout the Generals’ Penelope Luther and Lily Roush in No. 4 doubles.
“We knew how good Winfield’s boys were coming in,” CRHS head coach Chris Kidd said. “They have one of the top two or three teams in the state, but I thought our guys competed well. We won a match and nearly took two others, so I was happy with how we fought overall. We’re trying to get to states on the boys side this year for the first time as a boys team in school history, and I think we’ve got the guys to do it.”
Kidd said the Chapmanville girls tennis team was solid as well.
He mentioned that Winfield’s girls have a good team also, and that to beat them 7-0 is a great result.
“We didn’t play our best, but a lot of that was on me and some of the things I had some of them try. We don’t have the depth we’ve had in years past on the girls’ side, but I’m proud of how hard these six girls are grinding each match.”
For the boys to make that first state tournament appearance and for both the CRHS boys and girls’ squads to be successful in general, Kidd said they have to stick together and realize that what they can do for the team is more important and not what they can do for themselves.
“It’s easy to be selfish and only care about yourself in this sport, but if we want to accomplish anything or go anywhere, it has to be together,” Kidd said. “They can die as individuals or thrive together, and that’s solely up to them. Don’t be selfish. Support each other, have each other’s backs, and cheer for the success of everyone and not just themselves.”
Meanwhile, the Logan girls squad won 8-0 overall over Winfield.
Ashton McDonald of the Wildcats beat Tate 8-1 in No. 1 singles while Addyson Amick of LHS topped Bennett 8-1 also in No. 2 singles. Logan’s Shelby Mullins beat Arthur 8-2 in No. 3 singles, and Makena Goldie shutout Wiseman 8-0 in No. 4 singles.
The Logan girls swept the doubles matches with Winfield as McDonald and Amick won 8-1 over Tate and Bennett in No. 1 doubles, Mullins and Goldie won 8-1 over Arthur and Wiseman in No. 2 doubles, and the Wildcats’ Camryn Harvey and Caitlyn Ellis shutout Luther and Roush 8-0 in No. 3 doubles.
The LHS boys, however, were blanked 8-0 overall by the Generals.
In No. 1 singles, Logan’s Caleb Burgess fell 8-0 to William Sinclair and the Cats’ Eli Engle dropped an 8-1 match to Waybright in No. 2 singles. Andrew Sinclair shutout Ethan Dingess of LHS 8-0.
The Winfield pairing of William Sinclair and Waybright topped Burgess and Engle 8-0 in No. 1 doubles.
Logan assistant coach Michelle Akers said they have high aspirations for their girls team after being state runners-up last year.
She pointed out that they want to be right back at the state tournament this year.
“I thought the match for the girls was exactly where we want them to be at this point in the season,” Logan assistant coach Michelle Akers said. “They’re playing really well together. Our doubles are going exactly how we want it to go. I thought they all hustled and played with a lot of heart today.”
Akers thought the Wildcats’ boys team played with a lot of heart on Saturday.
“We knew they were going up against a really strong Winfield team,” Akers said. “We have two freshmen and only one returning boys player. We knew today was going to be rough, but I felt like they played with a lot of heart.”
She expressed that the boys team just needs a little more playing time and experience.
“They have come a long way since the season even started, so we’re just going to keep working every day to get better and try to end with a winning record,” Akers said.
The Chapmanville girls tennis team improved to 6-0 on the season while the boys fell to 4-2.
On Mar. 15, CRHS went to Point Pleasant and both Tigers squads picked up victories as the boys won 6-1 and the girls won 7-0.
Then, on Mar. 20, Chapmanville traveled to county rival Man and both CRHS teams won 7-0 overall.
Vance topped Man’s Clay Toler 8-0 in No. 1 singles, Conley beat the Hillbillies’ Cordy Jude 8-0 in No. 2 singles, and Stowers blanked Kody Griffin of MHS 8-0, and Freeman won No. 4 singles 8-0.
Saunders and Bumgarner ran past Toler and Griffin 8-1 in No. 1 doubles.
On the girls side, Curnutte shutout Man’s Draven Short 8-0 in No. 1 singles, Bryant blanked Auna Bailey of MHS 8-0, Chirico beat Man’s Carol Salyers 8-0, and Baker won No. 4 singles 8-0.
Hughes and Conley topped Short and Salyers 8-0 in No. 1 doubles.
Chapmanville was back on the road at River View on Mar. 22, and both of Kidd’s teams won 7-0 again.
On Tuesday, Chapmanville’s boys lost 7-0 to Huntington but the CRHS girls edged the Highlanders 5-2. The Tigers girls squad also held off Greenbrier East 4-3 on the same day.
The Chapmanville girls team is 6-0 on the year while the boys are 4-2. The squads were at Ripley on Thursday.
The Logan boys and girls tennis teams both defeated Scott on Monday, and both of Turner’s clubs also disposed of Man on Tuesday.
The LHS girls are now 7-0 while the boys are 2-5. They will go to Ravenswood on Friday.
