North Forsyth took on Lanier Wednesday night in their first region match. The Raiders were looking to start off region play undefeated, but would face some challenges due to unfortunate weather conditions. Nonetheless, The Raiders prevailed and finished the match on top.
The singles tipped off the night, as Raiders Star player Carson Failla (Junior) faced off against Lanier’s Kyle Guillory in what was a quick match for Failla. The Junior won in straight sets both 6 games to none, making it a 1-0 Lead for the Raiders.
Aarya Arnn was next up for the singles. In the first set between North’s Aarya Arnn and Lanier’s Justin Park, things got close with a 6-3 win for Arnn. Arnn followed up that set with a 6-0 score to win in straight sets handing the Longhorns 2 losses to start off the night.
To finish up the singles, North’s Will Hyder took on Lanier’s Aiden Popovich, winning in straight sets with scores of 6-4 in set 1 and 6-1 in set 2 giving Raiders Singles a 3-0 sweep.
Sophomore Tennis Player Caleb Kidd was very proud of North’s region opener win, “The team atmosphere was really amazing, and I think it helped us perform great.”
Although North secured the win vs Lanier after singles, both teams still had 2 matches of doubles left in the game. Sam Laterveer and Navaneeth Jayakanth made up the first team for North and would face up against Lanier’s Andy Smith and David Kwack. The match ended in straight sets favoring the Longhorns with a 1-6 loss in set 1 and a 2-6 loss in set 2 for the raiders.
Jake Laterveer and Samved Gazzalla looked to flip the script for the Raiders in doubles, but ultimately fell short in set 1 losing 5-7 to the Longhorns Elliot Jeong and Macon Walker in a set that came down to the wire. Unfortunately, the second was not a close one, resulting in a 1-6 loss for the Raiders.
Despite the rough ending for North’s doubles teams, the Raiders were able to secure the 3-2 match win vs the Longhorns with the help of the singles lines sweeping Lanier winning in straight sets. The Raiders now improve to 6-2 on the season and 1-0 in region play. Head Coach Mac Barron and the Raiders will look to face off against Habersham at home this upcoming Tuesday.
