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Raider tennis opened the 2013 season at home with a girls’ team win against White Swan March 19.

White Swan came in having already competed in two matches. The extra experience showed in their match-ups against the green Raiders. In the end the Raider girls came away with a 3-2 victory to start the season on the right note.

Holly Carriere defeated Morelia Maravilla in the third set after dropping the second set. The final tally was Carriere 7-5, 0-6, 6-3.

Emily Williams also won her singles match against Maria Anguiano in exciting fashion.

“Emily was behind 5-1 in the first set then put together a winning streak to win the first set,” Head Coach Steve Archer noted, “then in the second set continued her momentum to win in straight sets.”

In doubles action, Hillary Carriere and Lyric Witten beat Adi Vallanueva and Berenice Garcia in a close match. Archer liked their drive.

“Hillary and Lyric were behind in the first set 4-0,” he said. “They got it together and won six games in a row to win the set. … They also kept their momentum winning in straight sets.”

There was only one boy competing in the first match, Daniel Campobasso. In his singles match, Campobasso lost to Xavier Valladares 6-1, 6-0.

At Entiat March 21, LR took on the tough Tiger tennis squad. Brandin Smith and Campobasso both competed for the Raiders. In their singles matches, both lost: Campobasso to Gilberto Murrillo 8-4, and Smith to Luis Lugo 8-2. Then teaming up for a doubles match against Noe Quezada and Jeremy Davis, Campobasso and Smith lost 8-3.

“They both played well against quality players, but unfortunately didn’t come out on top,” Archer said.

The Raider girls faced an all-around tough team. One of the girls could not travel, so a newcomer had to play up. In the end, the Raider girls lost 1-4. Many of the matches were very close.

Holly Carriere lost to Alexis Swearingen 4-6, 6-2,1-0 (10-7). Coach Archer explains the scoring: “Holly won the first set, then lost the second. To decide the match they played a 10-point tiebreaker.”

Emily Williams played a similar match against Ana Spencer, 6-4, 7-6, (7-2). Hillary Carriere and Witten won the only match of the day for the Raiders, defeating Autumn Noyes and Lisa Ayala in a close roller coaster match 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8).

“With only two matches under our belt,” Archer said, “Hillary and Lyric are undefeated; hopefully they can keep this going.”

Kendra Descoteaux and Tanya Ang also played a roller coaster doubles match that went to tiebreaker sets. Cathy Gipe and Rubee Noyes challenged the LR duo every step of the way, winning 6-7(7-5), 7-5, 1-0 (10-6).

“I don’t remember ever having so many matches decided by tiebreakers,” Archer commented. “What this shows is that we matched up very well against Entiat.”

The next day, Pateros swept LR 0-5 in varsity matches. The Raiders did win JV doubles matches, as Areielle White and Ang beat Shannon Smith and Chelsea Rios 8-2. Lyric Witten and Emily Williams also won a JV doubles match over Irish Easter and Madisyn Harrild, 8-1.

Brandin Smith won a long match with two tie-breakers to win his first of the season over Johan Hernandez 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 1-0 (10-8).

After a hectic week the Raiders returned to action last night in Oroville. This Friday, the Raiders will play at home against Liberty Bell, starting at 4 p.m.

The Liberty Bell boys are undefeated thus far in the season ,including a 4-0 whipping of Pateros. The girls’ squad for Liberty Bell is winless coming into Friday’s match, including a 5-0 loss to White Swan.