The boy’s varsity tennis team traveled down to Columbia, Missouri on the weekend of April 20 with revenge on their minds.  Last year’s team had come up short in this Columbia tournament as they lost to the hometown team, Rockbridge, in the championship.  While the team failed to accomplish their goal of a first place finish, the Wildcats still picked up some impressive wins making for a good weekend.

In the first round of the tournament, Westminster faced Rockbridge’s “B” team, which is made up of the back six on Rockbridge’s varsity line up.  While the back six of Rockbridge fought hard, they were no match for the top six of Westminster’s team.  The Wildcats ended up with a 7-2 victory with singles wins from Bailey Merkel, junior, Derek Bell, junior, Andrew Montgomery, freshman, Hunter Hughes, senior, and Nathan Arnold, senior.

“At the time we were happy to pull out a win over Rockbridge’s “B” team, but we were really looking forward to the next matchup against Lafayette and the possible matchup with the top six of Rockbridge,” said Montgomery.

The team had a quick turn around after their first match, but this did not affect their play against Lafayette.  The team rallied picking up some tough wins for another 7-2 victory.  The highlight of this match was Derek Bell’s come-from-behind win over a tough opponent in a ten-point tiebreaker.

“In my match against Lafayette, I lost the first set but I stayed focused and came out strong in the second set.  I was able to pull out the second set and win in a close tiebreaker.  It was nice to get a win for the team,” said Bell.

Bell’s presence on this team has been a huge advantage.  Bell missed the beginning of the season with a shoulder injury and without him the team went two and five.  Since his return Bell has not lost a singles match and the team’s record has been five and two.

“I am glad to be back in the lineup and I hope to improve my game and my shoulder as the season goes on,” said Bell.

Unfortunately, the Lafayette win was the last victory for the Wildcat’s over the weekend.  On Saturday, Westminster faced Rockbridge’s top 6 in the championship for a second year in a row.  Again, Bell was able to pull out a singles win and a doubles win with the help of Merkel, but these were Westminster’s only wins as the team fell 7-2.

“We were very upset with the loss to Rockbridge because the team had worked so hard to prepare for the match and we came up short after giving it our all,” said Merkel.

While the tennis team went to Columbia looking for a championship, they were not able to revenge their previous loss to the top six of Rockbridge. However, the team did come home with new experiences and more confidence that will help them improve as the regular season comes to a quick close and districts begin on May 6.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          .