The Truckee boys tennis team split a pair of matches against Fallon and Reno in the last week, beating Fallon 12-6 on Tuesday and losing to the powerhouse Reno squad 5-13.

With gusts exceeding 40 mph in Fallon, the wind played a major factor for both teams, with tennis balls curving more than a Roy Halladay breaking ball.

Fallon is one of the few Division I-A matchups for Truckee in Northern Nevada, and is likely the precursor to the semifinal regional finals.

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Truckee’s singles proved formidable, with seniors Nicholas Gardella, Addison Dvoracek and Toby Ziegler sweeping the first two rounds and giving up only two games in the six sets. By the end of the second round, Truckee had sealed the wins by Eli Yale and Brandon Flora taking their first-round match 6-4, and Aaron Deeter and Ethan Gotts beating the Nos. 1 and 2 doubles teams 7-5 and 6-2, respectively.

Teagan Pado and Colin Gerrard were off the mark, but by beating the No. 3 doubles 6-1, the 10-set advantage allowed for some of the younger players to take the court. Two standout performances, one by singles player Cody Tilton, 6-0, and the other by doubles team Kevin Cross and Colin Deurlington, 6-1, put Truckee on top for the match.

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Several other sets were wel-fought, with Ryan Schildge and Tanner Smith falling to Fallon’s No. 1 by a score of 2-6. Quincy Schram lost 2-6 to Fallon’s No. 2 singles player, and Colter Fellows gave the No. 3 seed a good match at 4-6.

Facing a strong Reno team provided an opportunity for Truckee to play a team that had strong singles and doubles throughout the ranks.

The loss doesn’t reflect how well-fought many of the matchups were throughout the day. Truckee’s successes were all on the singles side, with Gardella winning his first-round match 6-0.

Ziegler fought hard in the first round, falling a break shy at 4-6. However, Ziegler won his second set 6-2. Dvoracek fell to Reno’s No. 1 seed, but then took home two wins, 6-2, 6-3, against Reno’s Nos. 2 and 3 players. Rounding out the day, Gardella won his third round 6-1.

Doubles teams had a tougher go, but managed several exciting sets. The first round matchup of top seeds pitted Pado and Gerrard against Reno’s best. The hard-fought set went long, through several deuce games, before falling 4-6.

The second round favored Reno across the board, but every matchup in Round 3 was close. Pado/Gerrard slipped 3-6. Eli Yale and Brandon Flora had a close match that only fell short by a break, down 4-6. The big battle of the day was with Aaron Deeter and Evan Gotts taking on Reno’s top seed, pushing the set all the way to 5-7.

“While the score may not reflect it, Truckee played extremely well against a very strong team and we were all quite proud,” said coach Rick Deeter.

The Wolverines, who are now 4-2 on the season, will host North Tahoe on Thursday at 3 p.m.