Ramstein takes down SHAPE in tennis; Kaiserslautern sweeps Spangdahlem

by Robert Baldwin
contributing writer

Despite spitting skies and soggy turf on their home courts, Ramstein sloshed its way to wins in both the boys and girls sections of a dual tennis match with SHAPE Saturday. The girls won all nine matches and the boys won six.
The most tense nail biter of the day was the number one boys doubles contest between Ramstein’s Colin Kent and Troy Bohne and SHAPE’s Joe Cates-Beier and Alex Kiss. The matchup was so closely contested that they needed tie breakers in the first two sets (RHS won the first, SHAPE the second) and a super tiebreaker to take the third set 10-7 for a Royals victory.
Sophomore Kassianna Von Eicken continued her dominance with a two-set shutout of Andrea Ruiz in girls number one singles. In doubles, Isabella Guzaldo joined Douglas Allison for the first time.
“It took all of the first set to really bond,” said Coach Alfredo Rios.  “In the second set, they [Guzaldo and Allison] played as if they have been together the entire season. It was fun to watch the two players develop a doubles connection on the court.”
In Spangdahlem, Kaiserslautern’s number one singles players Aiva Schmitz and William Alsing coasted to victories, paving the way for a perfect 18-0 day for the Raiders. Alsing won 6-0, 6-0. Alexander Brunk and Olaitan Powdar both defeated their opponents 8-0 in the boys while Urua Shiozawa did the same in the girls. Powdar teamed with Devon Holly to stay undefeated in number one doubles. Katherine Loftus and Rebecca Moon earned the girls number one doubles title in straight sets.
“We are happy with the progress. We have a solid boys line up in seeds one through six, and several first year players on the girls team,” said Coach Gabriell Horton. “This was a very good weekend for developing our team. We had players seeing their first varsity action and others scoring their first varsity wins which helps confidence and progress going forward.”
Ramstein and Kaiserslautern are both off this weekend, then will face each other at Kaiserslautern next Saturday.