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St. Marys' Jake Ackroyd, right, returns a shot as Celina's Aaron Doseck gets ready during the first doubles match between the teams at St. Marys. The Roughriders swept the Bulldogs 5-0 in Western Buckeye League tennis play.
ST. MARYS - With the Western Buckeye League tournament coming up next week, Celina and St. Marys faced off in boys tennis action that starts a busy week to try to complete postponed league matches.
The Roughriders improved to 4-1 in league play with a 5-0 sweep of the Bulldogs at the Minster Bank Courts. Celina drops to 0-4 in the WBL.
"I thought the boys handled it well," said St. Marys coach Luke Gossard. "They got a well-earned rest day yesterday, with a full week this week just like last week."
Despite the shutout, Celina coach Ethan Westgerdes was happy with his team's effort.
"We're a young team in a rebuilding year, not a lot of experience," said Westgerdes. "I'm proud how they fought. The scores aren't completely indicative of how the matches went. Good experience. Sometimes you have to take some lumps."
St. Marys' Isaac Wibbeler, who had been battling illness last week, looked sharp against Jack Zhang, getting the 6-4, 6-4 straight sets victory in first singles.
"Glad to see him bounce back with a good win over Jack," said Gossard.
Celina's Jack Zhang returns a shot during his first singles match with St. Marys' Isaac Wibbeler at the Minster Bank Courts in St. Marys. Zhang lost a competitive match 4-6, 4-6 as the Roughriders won all five varsity matches over the Bulldogs in Western Buckeye League play.
In second singles, Roughrider Cody Birt picked up a 6-1, 6-0 win over Rylan Chapman. Birt's teammate Rhett Chisholm posted the same score in beating Josh Schoen in third singles.
The St. Marys doubles teams each posted shutouts in winning 6-0, 6-0. Jaxton Spees and Jake Ackroyd won over Celina's Brady Sapp and Aaron Doseck in first doubles while Ollie Chisholm and Noah White got the shutout over Bulldogs Liner Bolkeim and Christian Fent.
"Proud of all the guys how they handled business tonight," said Gossard.
Both teams are back in league play tonight. St. Marys is at Shawnee and Celina hosts Bath.
