Coming into the year, Coupeville boys tennis coach Cliff Horr knew he had a young, fairly inexperienced group for 2003.

Not originally knowing what to expect from his team, other than from senior number one singles player Eric Taylor, Horr couldn’t be happier with the improvement he’s seen.

“I think we have had some really good progression,” he said.

Most recently the Wolves showed how much they’ve progressed in their fourth meet against 2A South Whidbey Wednesday.

Despite losing 4-2, Coupeville put forth one of their strongest performances of the season.

“We had some real good matches,” Horr said.

Taylor showed why he is one of the top players on the island, according to Horr. After falling behind 4-1 in the first set to South Whidbey’s Tim Klopfenstein, Taylor reeled off five straight points to take the first set 6-4.

“He just settled into a rhythm,” Horr said. “It was really fun to watch.”

Taylor then dominated Klopfenstein in the second set, winning 6-2 and taking the match. It was the second time in the last two meetings that Taylor defeated Klopfenstein, who narrowly beat him in their first two meetings.

“The first two times they were pretty close matches,” Horr said.

Number two singles player Trevor Mueller perhaps picked up the most significant win of the day for the Wolves. After losing his first three matches of the season to Falcon senior Kai Fleming-Snow, Mueller had one of his best days on the court. Winning a close first set 7-5, Mueller pulled away in the second set for a 6-2 win and the match.

“It was really cool to see him progress through the season and take the kid,” Horr said.

Coupeville senior Sean Brown lost his match in three sets, but for playing singles for the first time ever, he put forth quite a performance. Normally a number one doubles player, Brown played Wednesday’s match as the number three singles player. After taking the first set 6-4, Brown lost his next 6-1 and battled to a 7-5 loss in the third and final set.

“I was pleased with Sean,” Horr said. “He fought all the way to the last point.”

Sophomore Mason Hughes fell at the number four singles position 6-1, 6-1 to Alex Holting.

Both of Coupeville’s doubles teams, who are still in the learning process, dropped their matches.

Junior Kent Turner and sophomore Mike Johnson put up a strong effort, but fell 6-3, 6-4 to Devin Parrick and Kenny Johnson.

“That’s better than we’ve done all year,” Horr said.

Juniors Bill Bond and Brandon Kuschnereit lost 6-1, 6-1 to Reece Stanley and Oliver Shaffat.

Coupeville, now 3-6 on the season, will have their last scheduled home match at 3:30 p.m., Monday, Oct. 13 at home against Friday Harbor. They will then take on the Oak Harbor junior varsity team on Thursday.

The league tournament will take place at 11 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 25 at Friday Harbor.