Zeeland West and Zeeland East are no longer conference opponents for the Reeths-Puffer boys tennis team.
The Rockets are probably not upset about that, because the two Ottawa County schools tend to be very good at tennis.
But R-P still likes the challenge of good competition, so the Rockets traveled to Zeeland to play both teams on Wednesday in non-conference action.
It did not go particularly well, with R-P falling to both Zeeland West and Zeeland East by 7-2 scores.
The Rockets’ two wins against Zeeland West came in singles.
R-P's Ethan Frang
Ethan Frang (No. 1 singles) had a tough battle but beat ZW’s Luke Kaynor 7-6, 6-4.
Adam Miller (No. 4 singles) also had to fight but rallied to beat ZW’s Levi Kaynor in a tiebreaker, 2-6, 6-3, 12-10.
R-P’s success came against Zeeland East came in doubles.
Holden Earnest and Leo Kretschmar (No. 1 doubles) won their match 6-4, 7-5 while Preston Singleton and Jackson Baldus (No. 3 doubles) won their match 6-4, 7-5.
“We had some super competition against our two former conference rivals,” said R-P Coach Ryan Hankinson. “Both Zeelands are always very strong. I am disappointed with the team outcome, but I really think we are well positioned to head into our conference schedule next week.”