Reeths-Puffer senior tennis players Ethan Frang and Cory Judd both had great days on the court on Friday, winning flight championships and earning medals at the Fruitport Invitational.
Frang, the No. 1 singles player, posted a perfect 3-0 record with victories over Fruitport’s Remy Parker (6-1, 6-0), Western Michigan Christian’s Reid Staal (6-0, 6-1) and North Muskegon’s Kaden Bartolameolli (6-3, 6-4).
Frang is now 5-1 on the season.
Judd, who played doubles in the Rockets’ season-opener earlier this week, burst into No. 2 singles with a 2-1 record. He posted victories over Fruitport’s Nathan Medema (6-1, 6-0) and North Muskegon’s Gavin Miller (6-2, 6-1).
Cory Judd
Judd won the No. 2 singles flight championship based on winning more games than the other players with the same 2-1 match record.
His success was even more notable because he played part of the day with serious cramping in his leg.
“Cory and Ethan modeled the leadership qualities one expects from experienced seniors,” said R-P head coach Ryan Hankinson. “Cory’s effort was as gritty as could be, essentially playing eight games on only one leg.”
As a team, the Rockets more than tripled their victory total from their season-opening event, when they only won two matches.
Ethan Frang
Freshman Roman Ponce, playing at No. 3 singles, got his first varsity victory, beating Fruitport’s Tucker Gholson, 7-6, 6-4.
The Rockets also collected their first two doubles victories of the season. Their No. 1 tandem of Jackson Baldus and Landon VanderKooi defeated Fruitport’s Jackson Yandell and Landon McMullin, 6-3, 6-3.
R-P’s No. 2 doubles team of Henrik Ketner and Zayden Zlotnicki beat Fruitport’s Kaleb Brege and Brian Meeuwenberg 6-4, 6-2.
Each victory was worth one point in the team standings. The Rockets finished third out of four teams with eight points. Western Michigan Christian was first with 18 points.