Newton Falls to Olney (Richland County) in Hard-Fought Tennis Match, 3-6
NEWTON, IL — The Newton Eagles put up a spirited fight on Monday but ultimately came up short against a strong Olney (Richland County) squad, dropping the match 6-3 in high school boys tennis action.
Despite the final score, the Eagles had several standout performances, particularly in the lower singles and doubles flights. Senior Kahlin Michl came through with a commanding win at No. 5 singles, defeating Levi Hefferman 6-4, 6-0 to put Newton on the board. At No. 6 singles, Michael Shamhart followed suit with an equally dominant performance, rolling past Brayden Beard 6-1, 6-0 to secure another point for the Eagles.
Newton’s third win came in the doubles competition, where the brother duo of Alex and Brennan Bigard showed chemistry and control in a straight-sets victory over AJ Padilla and Antoine Georis, 6-3, 6-4, at the No. 2 spot.
Elsewhere, Newton faced tough challenges. In a hard-fought No. 1 singles match, Isaac Street came out strong with a first-set win over Olney’s Aidan Weidner, but couldn’t hold off the comeback, eventually falling 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. The Eagles also dropped competitive matches at the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles spots, including a narrow loss by Michl and Shamhart at No. 3, who pushed Olney to a tiebreak in the first set before falling 7-6 (4), 6-4.
“We saw some real bright spots today,” said Newton coach, Blake Davidson. “Kahlin and Michael played great tennis in singles, and the Bigard boys showed a lot of fire in their doubles match. We’re going to use this match as a building block and keep working hard.”
The Eagles will look to rebound in their next match as they continue to sharpen their game heading toward conference play.
