C-Falls boys edged by Pirates, 4-3

Grant Getts, Vadim Zvyagelskiy and Parker Johnson earned wins for Columbia Falls in singles, but Polson won the other four matches and posted a 4-3 win over the Wildcats in their season opener Tuesday afternoon in Polson.

Getts cruised past Grant Getts def. Tyler Engebretson, 6-0, 6-2, in No. 1 singles. In the No. 3 spot, Zvyagelskiy won in straight sets over Andrew Storro, 6-3, 6-2. Johnson rallied from a first-game loss and beat Tom Deanovic, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

The pivotal match in the dual was at No. 2 singles, where Polson’s Shad Giles had to work overtime to defeat Jake Ronish, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6. The score was 7-4 in the tie-breaker.

“We did pretty well in singles,” C-Falls coach Gary Yee said. “We almost pulled off that fourth win.

“Considering it was only the fourth day on the courts we did pretty well,” the coach added. “I was pretty pleased.”

Polson players already had eight matches going into Tuesday’s dual.

Yee had words of praise for Getts, a seasoned senior.

“He’s very, very solid. He played smart,” Yee said. “He changed some tactics then went back to what was working.”

Zvyagelskiy had a shaky start, according to Yee, but turned it around and played pretty consistently.

It was Johnson’s first-ever varsity match.

“He did a stellar job. He’s still learning how big the court is,” Yee said.

Johnson was behind in the third set, but rallied for the victory.

Polson swept the doubles matches. Results were: No. 1, Matt Roberts and Stefan McCrumb def. Scott Hopkins and Billy Garcia, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4; No. 2, Seth Havenkotter and Kyle Cooper def. Tim Spencer and Brian Marcille, 6-0, 6-0; and No. 3, Justin Evertz and Christian McCurdy def. Jon Riffey and Moroslov Zvyagelskiy, 6-2, 6-0.

Yee said Hopkins and Garcia had a nice comeback in the second game and played very well.

“Doubles is a completely different animal,” Yee said, and players need work on tactics.

“Individually they know what to work on. So much about tennis is geometry and time,” the coach said.

The Wildcat netters’ next outside competition is Tuesday at Whitefish.