The Boys Varsity Tennis team has been busy, busy, busy before the start of the 2025 season. Here is all their news to get you caught up: On Friday, August 15th, the Wildcats traveled to Sparta for a Quad match against Sparta, Northpointe Christian and Grant. Starting off against Grant, who brought 1st and 2nd singles players only, Chesney Hudson and Jacob Vanduine were able to take their matches without losing a game, 6-0, 6-0 on both courts. Wayland beats Grant 8-0. Wayland faced Sparta next with a few notable firsts for the Varsity team. Starting with 4th Doubles, and the Varsity debut for Santi Santiago partnered with Brycen Rookus, took their matches in a tie-breaker to earn their first win of the season. At 3rd Doubles, another freshman made their Varsity debut - Easton VanHouten teamed with veteran Asher Hendricks took their match in a tie-breaker as well! Great start for the Freshman! The 2nd doubles team of Grant Dunkle and Dawson Babiak won their match handily 6-1, 6-3. In another debt for the Varsity Tennis team, Jaden Osterhout, paired with veteran Mason Babiak at 1st doubles, took their first season win 6-1, 6-2. Welcome Jaden! On to 4th Singles, where Spencer Miller made his debut as a first time singles player. Spencer brought his A-game and won his first set 6-0. However, Sparta didn’t back down and Spencer’s nerves came into play as Sparta took the 2nd set 6-3. Spencer had to battle his player in a tie-breaker in the first singles match of his career for Wayland. Spencer started off slow, with Sparta jumping into the lead 6-2. However, in classic, gritty tennis fashion, Spencer showed his toughness and won the tie-breaker 10-6, winning his first Varsity Tennis match as a singles player for Wayland. Congratulations Spencer! Yet another first for Wayland in the 2025 season was Brayden Tomson playing 3rd Singles for the first time in his tennis career. Brayden was able to overcome nerves and the 95* heat to win his first match 6-2, 6-2 in a good confidence-booster match. At 2nd singles, Jacob Vanduine took his 2nd match of the day winning handily 6-0, 6-2. It was at first singles where Sparta kept their Ace. Chesney Hudson faced a tough talented player, in a stark contrast to his first match against Grant. Chesney was able to put up a good fight, but Sparta came away with the win, 6-1, 6-0. Wayland wins against Sparta, 7-1. At that point, Wayland was up 2-0 in the Quad overall - on to Northpointe Christian, also 2-0 on the day. Unfortunately, Wayland met their match for the last contest of the day. Northpointe brought good skills and quick tennis players to the match and was able to take Wayland for 1st place. There were bright spots in the match, however. At 1st singles, Chesney Hudson was able to take revenge for dropping the Sparta match!! Chesney played Northpointe in a near even match against a talented opponent, for about 2 1/2 hours in 90* heat!! Chesney dropped the first set 3-6, but came back to take the 2nd set by the same score 6-3. In the tiebreaker, the points went back and forth until Chesney shifted to another gear and took the 3rd set 10-6. Great job Chesney! Then, at 3rd doubles, to complete his Singles debut, Brayden Tomson stayed undefeated on the day by beating his opponent 7-5, 6-0. Congratulations to all players at that quad that showed patience and good sportsmanship throughout the day, despite the heat and long wait for courts. Great start to the 2025 season!!