Waynesville Tennis is back at it again, kicking off the season with a 6-3 victory over Houston. With a huge spark in tennis interest, the Tigers went through the first round of tennis cuts in Waynesville tennis history this season. That’s a good problem to have and has been a driving force for many of the boys to push themselves harder than ever before.

Playing doubles first, the Tigers scored a quick win on court 3 before taking two more doubles victories. Picking doubles teams has always been one of my least favorite responsibilities as a coach. This lineup, however, proved to have a great deal of chemistry, as all three teams seemed synced the whole night. Shawn Berrios and Aarron Emperato played so well together, leaving their Houston opponent in their dust. The Tyler Gayman/Nels Fry duo, as well as the Tyler Jones/Andrews team, both took 9-7 wins as well.

Tyler Gayman took a very close, hard loss on court 1, leading the way for the majority of the match. And on court 2, jumping all the way up from JV, was Tyler Jones at #2. Jones touches his racquet nearly every day, and it shows. This kid has improved a ton this year, just falling 4-8 to his opponent. Shawn Berrios, Caleb Andrews, and Aarron Emperato all took strong singles wins to solidify a Waynesville Tiger victory.

The Tigers have a busy week, facing Jeff City on Wednesday before hitting the road to Rolla on Thursday.

Singles

Tyler Gayman vs. Isaiah Buse, 6-8

Tyler Jones vs. Kyler Ramsey, 4-8

Shawn Berrios vs. Clayton Moore, 8-2

Nels Fry vs. Kyle Mills, 4-8

Caleb Andrews vs. Elliot Clark, 8-2

Aarron Emperato vs. Korbyn Tune, 8-1

Doubles

Gayman/Fry vs. Bus/Ramsey, 9-7

Jones/Andrews vs. Moore/Mills, 9-7

Berrios/Emperato vs. Clark/Tune, 8-0