If early-season matches serve as tutorials for the rest of the year, then Westlake coach Kim Riley still has plenty of lesson planning to do.

After rolling to a pair of wins in their first two duels, the Chaps (2-1) suffered a 10-9 loss to Abilene Aug. 19 in Mason. The narrow setback, Westlake’s first regular-season defeat in almost two years, resulted from a decided lack of seasoning on the girls’ side. Westlake’s girls lost seven of nine completed matches against a seasoned group of Abilene girls.

“We have some work to do with this young team,” Riley said, referring to a lineup that includes six underclassmen for the girls. “Most of these kids have never played a varsity match [before].”

Casey Sutton and Raina Kishan did impress on the top two lines of girls singles play, winning their two matches by a cumulative score of 24-3. However, they fell to their singles victims – Erin Walker and Claire Taylor – 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 on the top line of doubles play.

“The girls were a surprise, especially the No. 1 doubles losing after winning both singles matches easily,” Riley said.

On the bright side, Westlake’s boys approached dominance by winning seven of eight completed matches. Robin Chou, Westlake’s No. 1 player, continued his torrid start to the season by rolling over counterpart Kirby Kidd 6-2, 6-0. In the first three team duels, Chou has only dropped 11 games while sweeping to a trio of wins.

Nemo Niess clawed out a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win against Abilene and teamed with Chou for a win on the top line. Derek Wang also picked up a singles win for Westlake and partnered with Ryan Meek for a victory on the No. 2 doubles line. Grant Agatston and Jonathan Tan also earned singles wins.

“The boys were a shining spot, “ Riley said. “There are a lot of hard workers on the team this year.”

Chaps open year in dominating style

The Chaps opened the season with an impressive 15-4 win over perennial Region IV power San Antonio Clark Aug. 17 in San Marcos. Chou, Meek, Niess and Wang all picked up wins on the first four lines of the boys singles bracket. Chou teamed with Wang for a 6-0, 2-6, 11-9 win on the top line of doubles play, and the team of Niess and Meek swept to a straight-sets win on the No. 2 line.

Westlake’s girls dominated the Cougars by winning all six of the completed singles matches and all three of the completed doubles matches. Sutton and Kishan teamed up for a 6-0, 6-0 win on the top doubles line, and each won on the first two lines of singles play. Tara Sharma, Jessica Clouse, Jacqueline Patterson and Camila Childers also picked up singles wins, with Patterson earning the 10th and decisive point with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Erin Edwards.

The girls doubles teams of Sharma and Childers and Carlisle and Clouse also garnered points.

Westlake rolled over Converse Judson 15-4 in the team’s home opener Friday. The boys did not drop a match, and Greg Miller captured the 10th point.
Childers highlighted the girls’ effort by picking up wins in both singles and doubles play.