Beck Stewart returns a shot during NSCIF playoff action at Gridley High School, where he earned a straight-sets victory at No. 1 singles and advanced to the NSCIF individual finals on May 8 at Foothill High School. Photo courtesy of Gridley High School

GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - The Gridley High School boy’s tennis team advanced to the NSCIF team playoffs and hosted Central Valley in the first round. Gridley entered as the No. 3 seed while Central Valley was seeded No. 6. Despite the seeding, Central Valley was not an easy opponent, having tied for first place in the Northern Athletic League.

All matches were played as best of three sets, setting up a long afternoon of competition.

Play began at 2 p.m. Beck Stewart, playing at No. 1 singles, defeated Solomon Ford 7-5, 6-2 with consistent speed and strong play. At No. 2, Alvaro Montoro recovered from a slow start and improved his first serve but fell 1-6, 5-7.

At No. 3, Byron McLellan faced Layton Easley, a 6-foot-7 junior. McLellan dropped the first set 4-6, then responded with a dominant 6-0 second set using aggressive net play before losing the third set 4-6 after a match lasting nearly 1 hour, 40 minutes.

James Woolery, at No. 4, secured a 6-3, 6-4 win over Dorian Perkins. Eric Espinosa, at No. 5, lost to Camden Travis 5-7, 4-6 in a match featuring similar playing styles. Alex Sims closed out singles play with the quickest match of the day, winning 6-3, 6-0.

The teams entered doubles play tied 3-3.

The No. 2 doubles team of Montoro and Woolery lost 2-6, 4-6. The No. 1 doubles team of Stewart and McLellan battled through a competitive match, losing the first set in a tiebreaker 6-7 (8-10), winning the second set 6-4, then falling 1-6 in the final set.

At No. 3 doubles, Espinosa and Sims split sets 4-6, 6-3 before losing a super tiebreaker 10-12.

Gridley fell 3-6 overall in what was described as its strongest performance of the season.

Coach Linda McDowell said, “Looking at our stats, we either won big or lost big. This was the closest contest we have played, and they played better than I have ever seen them play.”

Stewart will advance to the NSCIF individual finals on May 8 at Foothill High School.