Reeths-Puffer tennis players Cade Paugh and Ethan Frang both won second-place medals on Friday at the Ludington Invitational after posting 2-1 records against some very tough competition.
Paugh, playing at No. 3 singles, had a rough start to his day, losing to Ludington's Jack Stidham 6-1, 6-0. But he rebounded by beating Cole Doucette of Traverse City West in three sets.
R-P's Cade Paugh gets ready to unleash a serve.
Paugh won the first set 6-2, lost the second one 6-1, then pulled himself together to win the very tight tiebreaker 11-9.
Paugh also took the rough road to victory in his last match, against Cadillac's Brady Koenig, losing the first set 6-1, then winning the second 7-5 and the tiebreaker 10-7.
Frang, playing No. 4 singles, started out hot by winning his first two matches in relatively easy fashion. He beat Jonah Arbukle of Traverse City West 6-2, 6-1 and Matt Erickson of Cadillac 6-0, 6-3.
Frang lost his last match to Reece Ward of Ludington 6-0, 6-2.
R-P's No. 1 singles player, Jake Vandenbosch, posted a 1-2 record. He beat Traverse City West's Steven Biteman 6-1, 6-0. The Rockets' No. 2 singles player, Quinn Alderink, also went 1-2. He beat Traverse City West's Seth Munro 6-3, 6-2.
R-P's Ethan Frang returns a shot.
Overall it was a rough day for the Rockets, particularly in doubles, where they won only 1 of 12 matches.
Reeths-Puffer finished tied for third with Traverse City West with seven points. Ludington won the event with 20 points while Cadillac was second with 14.
"It was not a great performance by the young Rockets overall, but it was the type of day that will make us better as individuals and as a team," said Coach Ryan Hankinson.