By DAVE WOODALL
Slidell sports writer
SLIDELL – The Pope John Paul II tennis teams swept the Salmen Spartans last week in singles and doubles action.
Leading the way for the PJP boys were singles players freshman Michael Condon and sophomore Henry Calamari.
Salmen was missing their #1 singles player and everyone moved up and worked extremely hard.
In an unusual match, Calamari played Salmen’s Nicholas Hursey in Line 2 singles. The unusual thing about the natch was the fact that the two players were cousins. Despite being related, the two played with a lot of heart and determination representing thier schools.
In doubles action, PJP senior Blake Everhard and partner sophomore Nathan Swalley swept Line 1 doubles with a 6-0, 6-1 victory. Swalley came right to the match after going to a funeral for his Grandfather.
Newcomers to the PJP team were Ethan Adams-Harwell and Will Beaucoudray who fought hard in the super tiebreaker. Sophomore Jon Leonard and Gabe Hernandez also played extremely well in their victory.
On the girls side, Salmen took the first singles match but from there on it was PJP all the way.
Freshman Ashley Calamari won her singles match followed by all three doubles matches. PJP’s first double match saw Angela Finch and Sydney Gressaffa came out slow but quickly regrouped to take the second set and the super tiebreaker. Not bad for just returning to tennis after participating in the state soccer championships last week. In Line 2 doubles, it was sisters Holly and Abby Estopinal who took the victory. Mary Grace Kelley and Sophia Cefolla won at Line 3, 6-1.