Kentwood downed Mt. Rainier 4-1 in a Tues., Sept. 10, 4A South Puget Sound League North Division boys tennis opener for both teams, but Ram head coach Tim Lee observed some positive signs for the season.

"We were a little bit more competitive," he said. "We'll continue to work hard and apply ourselves to the matches. I saw some good fight out of our boys."

After Kentwood's No. 2 doubles pairing of Jacob Schaefer and Chris Kutsafanas downed Kevin Nguyen and Ryan Rhodes, 6-1, 6-0, Mt. Rainier evened the score with a No. 1 doubles win. Tyler Andrews and Kepe Bonner controlled the first set for a 6-1 triumph. In the second set, the action tightened up before Andrews took a short return at net to volley away the ball for game, set and match at 6-4.

For Andrews, it was a matter of concentration.

"I was hittting out on all my shots in the first set," he said. "I could use all my shots. In the second set, I began with a mistake and just kept thinking about it. My shots were short and weak."

Over on court No. 3, Conqueror Alex Hicker overcame Austin Sharma, 6-4, 6-2, to earn the No. 2 singles victory and a 2-1 KW match win lead.

High drama was taking place at Court No. 1 in first singles participation. Sam Verbon represented the Rams well before Shaun Fisher triumped 6-2, 7-6 (7-1). In the tie-breaker, Verbon suffered a service break on the first serve and never fully recovered after holding off many set points to gain the tie-breaker.

The final match was No. 3 doubles in which Kentwood Conquerors Isaac Hegamin and Garrett Stewart overcame Milan Crone and Anantish Vushist 6-2, 6-0.