Mount Rainier continued its strong team tennis season with a 7-0 match victory against visiting Highline in Des Moines on Monday, April 19.

The Rams hold down second place in the Seamount League standings at 7-1. John F. Kennedy leads at 8-0 whiles Evergreen is 7-1.

Mount Rainier's only loss was 4-3 to the Lancers and includes a marathon win against Evergreen. The Wolverines have not faced Kennedy, yet.

"Our girls have been strong all year and the doubles team has been consistent," said long-time Ram head coach Tim Lee. "We're tough. With Leeds at No. 1 singles and Desmond at No. 2, we have a strong 1-2 punch."

Junior Jim Leeds quickly passed the Pirates' Jacques Gordon, 6-0, 6-0, by outgunning his opponent from the baseline and taking the net when clear opportunities came up in No. 1 boys singles to get the Rams into high gear immediately.

Next came the results from mixed doubles. Overcoming a slow start, the Mount Rainier pair of junior John Heckel and senior Brooke Luchau passed the Highline duo of Alana Lopez and Bao Vin, 6-4, 6-2.

"The guy (Bao Vin) was strong and quick on his feet," observed Luchau. "We mixed up our placements to try and avoid the net player."

The Rams moved to 3-0 in matches as Ram senior Sydney Codd worked hard to earn the No. 1 girls singles victory against the Pirates' Andrea Burgos.

"More top spin and moving my feet more was what improved my game," said Codd.

Mount Rainier's sophomore Will Desmond took a 6-2, 6-2, No. 2 boys singles win against Tommy Pham to clinch the team match triumph for the Rams.

Junior Shannon Wong and sophomore Alexis Gregerson of Mount Rainier overcame a first set loss to win girls singles. Sophomores Blake Henley and Jenallee Gould rocketed to a 6-2 win in the first set against a nervous Ram pairing. Wong normally plays No. 2 singles and joined Gregerson for the first time. After a few adjustments, the Ram tandem relaxed and controlled the final two sets, 6-2, 6-4. Wong and Gregerson led 4-1 in the third set before Henley and Gould rallied within 5-4.

No. 2 girls singles provided another Mount Rainier win as sophomore Jelena Stevanovic overcame Trang Dinh, 6-1, 6-2.
Closing action featured a stirring battle in boys doubles. The Rams' junior Ben Brodin and sophomore Ramon Sharma won the first set, 6-4, but the unrelenting Pirate twosome of Justin Vu and Kyle Swain prevailed, 6-2, in the second set, forcing a third set "Super tie-breaker" in which the first team to gain 10 points and lead by at least two points would win a 1-0 set.

Brodin and Sharma led only 8-7 before finally closing it out at 10-7.