Senior day could not have gone any better for Auburn Riverside tennis head coach Tyler Parsons and his Raven team. In a matchup between two tennis powerhouses, the Ravens faced one of their toughest opponents of the season Oct. 9 in the Tahoma Bears.
The match started off slow, but the Ravens pulled out a 4-1 victory to keep their undefeated season alive. The win pushed Auburn Riverside to 15-0 and secured their fourth consecutive NPSL 4A league title.
“Very close match. Very good competition. Tahoma always brings a very good team,” Parsons said. “Our kids ended up really clutching up today and finishing this last match to win the league title today and continue this streak of 15-0.”
Parsons said this season has been a great success because of his two captains, Evan Ly and Jeremy Yang. In the match against the Bears, Ly defeated Owen Kizen 6-3, 6-1. Yang teamed up with Caleb Choi in No. 1 doubles, defeating Tahoma’s Aaron Abudilla and Jayson Stock 6-0, 6-4.
Auburn Riverside’s Evan Ly and Tahoma’s Owen Kizen shake hands after match. Nathan Hyun / The Reporter
Ly, a reigning WIAA Athlete of the Week, has not dropped a single set all season. He has established himself as one of the top players not just in the league, but in the entire state.
“This year, I was more nervous because my coach told me that I was going to be captain,” Ly said. “I was really fired up for this year, and I’m excited for the postseason.”
Last season, then-freshman Ly and then-sophomore Yang competed together in the doubles portion of the 4A state tournament. The duo went 1-2 across three matches, narrowly missing a spot on the podium.
“We were one match away from placing at state, but then we lost that match. We are just trying to play state again so we can try to place at state, or win,” Ly said.
Even though Ly played singles in the match against the Bears, he will reunite with Yang as the team enters the postseason. While he’s determined to compete at a high level, Ly is also keeping the game fun.
“I would say this team is the most unique and interesting one out of all of them. But yeah, it’s been really fun hanging out with everybody,” Ly said. “Hopefully I can just have fun with my partner.”
This is Parsons’ third season leading the Ravens, and in that time, he’s built a powerhouse program. Under his leadership, the Ravens have lost just one team match and are 48-1 in those three seasons.
Having a perfect tennis season is no longer a goal for the Ravens — it’s become the expectation.
“The kids’ goal was to try and go undefeated, just like they did last year. So, they ended up setting high expectations, and I tried to hold them to it as much as possible,” Parsons said.
Auburn Riverside’s Evan Ly prepares to return the ball. Nathan Hyun / The Reporter
Even with these high expectations, Parsons knows the importance of taking it one match at a time.
“We still got work to do, because we got postseason tennis,” Parsons said. “That’s where the kids get to show their individual strengths and go into that tournament and show what they’ve been doing all year individually.”
Despite the Ravens’ success during the regular season, Parsons has yet to have a singles player or doubles team place at the state tournament in his tenure. This is a goal that Parsons believes is within reach this year, especially with the second-year doubles team of Ly and Yang.
In other matches, Auburn Riverside’s No. 2 singles Albert Yang topped Lucas Vlasyuk 6-3, 6-4.
Ravens No. 3 doubles team of Keil Manary and Parker Workman beat Chris Lee and Sharad Sreekanth 6-0, 6-3. Tahoma’s lone win of the match came from their second doubles team, Grant Simmons and Auston Abadilla defeated the Raven combination of Joshua Choi and Cole Bateman in three sets 4-6, 6-1 (7-10).
