GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - 17.

That’s now the number of singles and doubles tiebreaks/overtime that Gridley varsity tennis players have pushed their opponents to so far this spring. It was 12 going into the March 24 meet at Oroville. Of the 17 tiebreaks played by the Bulldogs so far, they have won eight.

Junior Spencer Davis made his first start as a No. 1 seed and served his way to a 6-2 first set win over See Xae Yang. However, Yang’s service game recovered in the second set and he took it 6-4. That set up the first tiebreak of the meet, which Yang won 10-8.

The drop off from the one seed to the six seed was not much, if any, as the Tigers all demonstrated above-average service games and a fondness for top-spin forehands. No. 2 seed sophomore Ryan Woolery overcame a sprained ankle to close within a game of Ethan Thao before losing the first set 6-4. Woolery would win the second set by the same margin but would be edged out 11-9 in the tiebreak.

Gridley juniors Jeremy Longmire and Cole Leishman led big early, but persistence from Ethan Saeturn and Tien Chao, along with improved service and serve-return games allowed the Tigers to come back to win a first-set tiebreak (Saeturn) and even the match before winning the tiebreak 7-2 (Chao).

Bulldogs coach Bob Moffitt said the results of the matches were unimportant compared to the improvement that his players showed.

“Cole has been struggling with his serve,” Moffitt said. “But in the first set, his toss was high and he was making contact where he needed to. Spencer had at least 10 aces in his match, which was a season high. Both players saw a need for improvement and have made strides in that regard.”

Moffitt went on to say that consistency would be a focal point for the team.

“Nobody learns how to play tennis in a day,” Moffitt said. “There are a multitude of skills required and many of our players had never played before a month ago. I am very pleased with their improvement so far. But, as Oroville showed us today, we have a ways to go to be consistently competitive.”

Freshman Cesar Ortiz and senior Taylor Johnson were overwhelmed by the service and groundstroke games of their opponents, Aaryan Patel and Noushe Yang.

In doubles, Woolery and Leishman continued their strong play, but lost to See Xae Yang and Chao 8-5. Longmire and Davis went to extras but lost 10-8 to Saeturn and Noushe Yang. Ortiz and sophomore Eric Ramirez lost 8-3, though the play on the court was much closer than the score would indicate.

Gridley falls to 3-4 overall on the season and 2-2 in Butte View League play.