The Marietta Tiger boys tennis team rolled to a 4-1 victory over the Gallia Blue Devils in an Southeastern Ohio Athletic League match Wednesday.
The Tigers got dominating performances by both first and second singles players and swept the doubles matches in three sets apiece.
Senior Cody Kriechbaum easily defeated Justin Stewart 6-0,6-1, while fellow senior Alex Stern bested Kelle Craft 6-1,6-2.
"The one-two match-ups are always solid matchups for us" said Tiger head coach Chris Mayer. "It's like having two number one players. They are both very good."
While both singles players breezed through their matches, the double match-ups were far more competetive.
In this year's earlier matchup with Gallia, the Marietta first doubles tandem of Zach Mullen and Will O'Connor lost 0-6,1-6 to Bryce Amos and Cody Billings.
This time the Tiger pair traded the first two sets by identical 6-2 scores, before claiming the third set 6-3.
"That is the best our first doubles team has played all year," said Mayer. "They played an outstanding match."
The second doubles matchup featured sophomore Edwin Stoll and freshman Clay Mason for Marietta against the Devils T.J. McCalla and Riley Nibert.
The Tigers lost the first set 3-6 and returned the favor by claiming the second set by the same 6-3 score, before claiming the rubber match 6-4.
The Tigers bested Gallia earlier in the season and Mayer was pleased with the improvement his team had shown since the first meeting.
"We beat them the first time 3-2, winning both singles matches and the second doubles," said Mayer. "We were able to pick up the first doubles match and that was a big win for us."
Gallia's third singles player Jared Lester claimed a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Tiger senior Ben Edgar for the lone Blue Devil win.
The win improved the Tiger season record to 3-4 overall and 3-2 in the SEOAL.
The Tiger netters will be right back in action both today and Friday as they host Zanesville and Cambridge in conference match-ups.
Marietta 4 Gallia 1
1st singles
Alex Stern (M) d. Kelle Craft (G) 6-1,6-2
2nd singles
Cory Kriechbaum (M) d. J Stewart (G) 6-0,6-1
3rd singles
Jared Lester (G) d. Ben Edgar (M) 6-2,6-1
1st doubles
Zach Mullen/Will O'Connor (M) d. Bryce Amos/Cody Billings (G) 6-2,2-6,6-3
2nd doubles
Edwin Stoll/Clay Mason (M) d. T.J. McCalla/Riley Nibert (G) 3-6,6-3,6-4
