An April 12 match at Manti was also postponed halfway through due to rain. The match will be played April 30.
During their first regular-season match, the Red Devils played a home match against the Gunnison Bulldogs on April 10. The Red Devils didn’t play their best games, losing four of their five matches to the Bulldogs. Grand’s sole victory of the morning came from seniors Matz Indergard and Kory Sheldon, who won the first doubles match.
That same afternoon, the Red Devils came back to win a decisive 4-1 victory against the South Sevier Rams. Senior Zak Hazlett won the number-one singles match.
“Zak did really well, especially at South Sevier,” said Grand County High School head tennis coach Ed DeFrancia. “He won his first sets, lost the second and was down 1 to 4 in his third but came back to win the set. He came back and pulled out ahead.”
Grand’s doubles teams also played well, with the number-one and number-two teams winning their sets.
“Our doubles did really well… so that was nice,” said DeFrancia. “Kory [Sheldon] and [freshman] Elijah [Stock] played first doubles, and they played really well; they played smart. Matz [Indergard] and Macrae [Olsen] won number two doubles. They did really well – it was a fun set to watch.”
Grand played the Richfield Wildcats on April 19, losing three of their five matches. Grand’s double players were shut down by Richfield’s formidable doubles teams, but Grand’s singles players held their own. Hazlett and junior Trenton White won the number-one and number-three singles matches.
DeFrancia said the team remains confident despite tough competition in the region.
“Some of the teams are much better than we thought they were going to be, some are not,” he said. “But people are playing better. It’s definitely on the upswing.”
Grand was next scheduled to compete at home against their archrivals, the San Juan Broncos, on Tuesday, April 24.