GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - The Gridley Bulldogs varsity tennis team recently won two in a row and were full of confidence they could challenge long-standing Butte View League champions, Orland.

After three hours of service winners, topspin backhands and well-placed drop shots, it was the Trojans (3-2, 2-0 Butte View) who emerged victorious over Gridley (2-3, 1-1) by a score of 9-0 on March 17.

Gridley coach Bob Moffitt repeated a familiar refrain as he spoke to his team, not about winners and losers, but of information and experience that can be turned into improvement.

“I am really proud of these young men,” Moffitt said. “They faced a caliber of opposition we have not seen previously, which is a good thing early in a season. Although the results were not what they would have liked, the obvious gap in our opponents’ skills and ours gives us multiple targets for areas in which we can improve.”

As the fourth seed, junior Spencer Davis continued to show an improved service game as he led all Bulldogs with 11 total games won, including the four he and fellow junior Jeremy Longmire accumulated in doubles.

Like Davis, in his second set versus Junior Glavan, two-seed Ryan Woolery doubled the number of games won (four) compared to his first set against Kevin Torres. Gridley sophomore Eric Ramirez battled hard as the sixth seed, but fell 6-3, 6-2.

The Bulldogs then played at Corning on March 18, winning a nailbiter of a match 5-4.

Gridley plays next Thursday on the road against Oroville at 3:30 P.M.