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--> --> April 24: Grizzlies move closer to SOC title; AHS roundup By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings More dominant singles play plus a pair of big doubles wins equaled another breezy win for the Ashland High boys tennis team Tuesday. The Grizzlies won four of five singles matches a day after winning all five against Grants Pass, and took the top two doubles matches for a 6-3 Southern Oregon Conference win over Roseburg at Hunter Park. "We always have a pretty competitive match with (Roseburg)," Grizz head coach Dick Streng said. "We beat them (7-2) earlier in the season, but they always seem to play even better when they come down here. "This is a big one for us to win going into the Jesuit tournament. Mentally, it will be good." The victory moves Ashland one step closer to claiming the SOC regular season championship. With two league duals left the Grizzlies are 7-1 in the SOC, tied with North Medford, which they beat last week. The district tournament, which determines how many Grizzlies (10-2 overall) will qualify for the state tourney, will be played May 9 and 11 at Hunter Park. Junior Ari Zaslow continued his stellar play at No. 1 singles for the Grizzlies, dismantling counterpart Cory Frazer 6-0, 6-1. At No. 3 singles, Grizz junior Jonathan Willing was equally impressive in a 6-1, 6-0 win over Joseph Lee. Ashland No. 4 singles player Ross Mather, a freshman, pounded Ross Evenson 6-1, 6-1; and AHS No. 5 Jer-wei Chang, a sophomore, throttled Heath Westbrook 6-0, 6-3. In doubles, Ashland's No. 1 team of freshman Evan Schleining and junior Kevin Spears downed Stewart Wetmore and Jared Schricker 6-3, 6-3; and the Grizzlies' No. 2 team of junior Tyler Coke and senior Jacob Doty fought back from a set down to defeat Mike Rising and Zane Consiglio-Lahti 4-6, 6-4 6-2. The No. 1 doubles match was closer than the final score indicated. Wetmore and Schricker proved up to the challenge most of the match, but Schleining and Spears came up big in crunch time. Two games went to deuce in the opening set and the Schleining-Spears combo won both, the second - won on a Roseburg unforced error - igniting a 4-1 finish that ended the set. The Grizz duo did it again in Set 2, coming up huge on deuce in the eighth game to hold off Roseburg's last gasp. On serve at 4-3, Wetmore and Schricker had won two of the last three games and were building momentum. The Grizzlies' took a quick 15-40 lead on Wetmore's serve, but the Roseburg duo clawed back behind an Ashland service return error and an overhead to force the all-or-nothing point. The critical serve to Schleining was right in his power zone, however, and the lefty, sporting a Bruce Lee T-shirt, punched it right at the feet of the charging Wetmore. The dipping return proved too much for Wetmore to handle, and his forehand scoop volley sailed wide right, out by a foot. That gave the Grizzlies a 5-3 lead, and they clinched the match eight points later on a Wetmore service return error. "We played a little more together today, just got more balls back than they did," Spears said. "We're improving with each match. We're not polished yet, but we're improving, for sure." Schleining said he and Spears may contend for a district title. "I think we can do very well (at districts), definitely," he said. "I think we can even do well at the state level if we can play that well together." Next up for Ashland is the Jesuit Metro Tournament, which they won last year, Friday and Saturday in Beaverton. After that the Grizzlies head to Grants Pass April 30 for their second SOC meet against the Cavemen in seven days. The defeated the Cavers Monday 7-2. Ashland High Girls Tennis At Roseburg, playing without No. 1 singles player Justine Bowen-Jones, the Grizzlies rallied to beat Roseburg 5-4 Tuesday. Ashland (6-2 SOC) won just one singles match, but that proved to be enough thanks to some outstanding doubles play that produced four Grizz wins, including two three-setters. Ashland's No. 3 doubles team of sophomores Chelsea VanLehn and Kate Morris beat Amy Dorius and Emily Gawne 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 and, in the closest Ashland match of the season, Sarah Cate, a sophomore, and Caitlin Johnson, a senior, won a 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 marathon match against Kirsten Evenson and Valerie Janelli at No. 4 doubles. The Grizzlies next host Grants Pass April 30. Ashland High Boys Golf At Klamath Falls, the Grizzlies' red team, made up of Jesse Oldfield, Bob Tucker, Jeff Skinner and Logan Bishop, took sixth at an eight-team, non-counting Southern Oregon Conference match Tuesday at Running Y Resort. South Medford Blue won the gathering with a 310, and Klamath Union's Justin Leeper and Cody Lockrem tied for medalist honors by both shooting a par-74. Ashland's white team - Rick Ferguson, Marc Orr, Drew Smith and Ian Dean - combined to finish last. Ashland's red team, led by Skinner's 87, shot a 365. Ashland High Track and Field At Eagle Point, missing out on what head coach Bob Julian Jr. called probably the Grizzlies' "best chance to win," Ashland was swept by Eagle Point in a Southern Oregon Conference dual meet Tuesday. The Ashland boys lost a heartbreaker to the Eagles 75-70, and the Grizz girls fell more convincingly 94-51. Both Grizz teams are winless heading into their final two SOC dual meets. Despite the team setback, several Ashland athletes delivered outstanding individual performances. For the AHS boys, Cameron Voget won both the discus (119-0) and the javelin (174-2), Stu Tobiasson tiij both the long jump (19-61/2) and the triple jump (40-11) and Jeff Olson captured both the 800-meter run (2:05.8) and the 1,500 (4:23.00). For the Grizz girls, Erika Boehnke won both the high jump (5-0) and the 100-hurdles (17.0), Rihanna Patterson won the 800 (2:30.4), Kendall Clark the 1,500 (5:10.9) and Mariah Mayfield won the 3,000 (12:41.8). Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing