By Gerardo Bolong

TUKWILA - After 40 minutes on its recently resurfaced tennis courts, the Foster boys tennis team had won one match and led in three other pairings before steady showers interrupted the proceedings. Following nearly 30 minutes of wait time the visiting River Ridge Hawks from Lacey and the host Bulldogs were forced to suspend play and resume the matches at a later date. Foster remained in third place of the SPSL 2A standings at 7-1 with Lindbergh and Fife tied with 8-1 records at the top. Foster defeated Fife 4-1 before absorbing a tense 3-2 loss to at Lindbergh. Two matches went to third sets. Fife dropped Lindbergh for the only Eagle loss. Ben Nguyen scored a 30-minute 6-0, 6-0, control of No. 2 singles against Lindbergh’s Tyler Muise to give the Bulldogs a win. “I was controlling the where the ball went and going to the net,” said Nguyen. At this point, control went to the elements as steady showers began with suspension of play until a future date. At the time of play stoppage, Bulldog No. 2 singles player Joey Gonzalez held a 6-0, 1-0, lead against Kegen Blandin. In No. 1 doubles, sophomore Abe Rios teamed with senior Hao Le to lead the Hawk tandem of Kevin Chung and Tyler Le, 6-1, 3-2. In similar circumstances, Foster’s Dom Nguyen paired with Lanny Tran in No. 2 doubles for s 6-2, 2-2 advantage against Mich Jensen and Jason Tran. Foster’s Calvin Le and Lanny Tran and the River Ridge duo of Brandon Kim and Colin Mayo never got underway in No. 3 doubles. Season success for Foster has been based upon the ability to mix and match individual players in many ways. “The flexibility of this team is strong,” said longtime Bulldog head coach Soap Ngeth. “This is a unique year. We’ve made so many different lineups. The kids play wherever we put them. Experience with different partners gives inexperienced athletes the chance to have fun with experienced ones. The lineups can be adjusted according to what teams we play.” According to Ngeth, at least a two-way and possibly a three-way tie for first is likely due to the top three squads being much stronger than the other teams plus the teams not playing each other more than once.”