By Teddy Rydquist
Leader Staff Writer
Having played four of their five matches on the road thus far in 2020, the Oxford Wildcats boys’ tennis team battled the Macomb Area Conference’s (MAC) Romeo Bulldogs on Tuesday, September 1.
Splitting the singles flights, the Wildcats won just one of the doubles flights and lost the match, 5-3.
Senior Silas VonAllmen and junior Chase Maier were responsible for the singles victories, dispatching Romeo freshman Marko Dimovski and senior Justin Apley, respectively.
Improving to 4-0 as a pair, seniors Zach Buchanan and Alex Robb secured Oxford’s lone doubles win, topping senior Jeffrey Kennedy and junior Chad Gilbert, 6-1, 6-4.
Two days later, Thursday, September 3, the Wildcats clashed with their first Oakland Activities Association (OAA) opponent of the season, the White Division’s Rochester Adams Highlanders.
Consistently one of the league’s top teams, the Highlanders made quick work of Oxford, cruising to an 8-0 victory.
Despite the shutout, head coach Ryan Ruzziconi highlighted the performances of senior Gabe Smith at No. 3 singles and the No. 1 doubles pairing of Buchanan and Robb.
Smith fell to freshman Owen Dong, 6-1, 6-2, and Buchanan and Robb suffered their first loss of the campaign at the hands of junior Ethan Eliasson and sophomore Cooper Nugent, 6-3, 6-1.
Now standing at 3-2 overall, the Wildcats will look to regain their footing at the familiar confines of Oxford High School with back-to-back home matches. On Wednesday, September 9, the Blue Water Area Conference’s (BWAC) Almont Raiders will make the trip, followed by their first OAA Blue match of the year the next day, Thursday, September 10, against the Royal Oak Ravens.
Both matches begin at 4 p.m.

  boys tennis