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In a tightly contested Mountain Foothills 7 Conference tennis match, Polk County narrowly fell to Brevard 5-4 in Wednesday’s season opener at Polk County High School.

The Wolverines showed promise in singles play, with Banks Barber dominating his No. 1 singles match against Aiden Winkler 6-2, 6-3. Morgan Allen secured a hard-fought victory at No. 4 singles, prevailing over Paxton Smith 6-3, 3-6, 11-9 in a tiebreaker. Harris Windsor added another point for Polk County at No. 5 singles, defeating Luca Gugino 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

Brevard countered with wins at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 6 singles. Luke McLaughlin outlasted Riley Ballentine in a tiebreaker 6-3, 5-7, 10-7, while Braden Boswell recovered from a first-set loss to defeat Charlie Wagoner 1-6, 6-0, 10-4. Griffin Banks completed Brevard’s singles effort with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Grayson Meyer.

With singles play split at three matches apiece, the conference opener would be decided in doubles competition. The top Polk County duo of Barber and Ballentine dominated McLaughlin and Boswell 6-0, but Brevard responded by claiming the remaining doubles matches. Winkler and Smith defeated Allen and Windsor 6-2, while Banks and Christian Girolamo secured the deciding point with a 6-1 victory over Meyer and Wagoner.

“I’m incredibly proud of how our team competed today, especially considering that half of our players had never played in an official match before,” said Polk County head coach Tracy Becker. “The resilience they showed against an experienced Brevard squad was impressive.

“While some matches didn’t go our way, the determination and sportsmanship displayed by all our players was truly remarkable. As we regroup and focus on areas for improvement in practice, we look forward to building on this experience as the season progresses.”

Becker noted the teamwork she saw in the play of Allen and Windsor, noting they had not played together before Monday’s match. She emphasized the importance of practice to improve their strokes and strategy moving forward.

The Wolverines will look to rebound quickly as they travel to East Rutherford on Tuesday. The match is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Callison Recreation Center in Forest City.