The Timpview No. 1 doubles team of Brett Bahme and Parker Dobson certainly didn't come out of the gate firing Thursday afternoon in their semifinal match in the Region 7 boys tennis tournament at Mountain View against Orem's Kevin Lloyd and Tyler Lee.

At that point, they made got back into the form that made them the No. 1 seed in that division. They broke the Orem serve, then won seven straight points in the tiebreaker to snatch back the first set.

From that point on, their play improved and they ended up winning 7-6 (7-0), 6-2 to advance to today's finals and join the rest of the T'Bird participants.

That turned out to be the biggest test Timpview faced on the first day of action, thanks to the superb play of Lloyd and Lee, and Thunderbird head coach Rob Sperry was glad of the challenge.

"They needed to have some pressure put on them," Sperry said. "But they did what they needed to do to get through."

He said the favored Timpview squad overall fell into that catagory on the first day of action.

"We didn't do anything exceptionally well," the T'Bird coach explained. "We weren't bad, but we weren't good either."

They might need to turn things up a notch today as they will face the No. 2 qualifiers in every division.

"The seeds fell to form into the championships," Sperry said. "It's going to be No. 1 vs. No. 2, so the top two players or teams in the region will play against each other."

The highlight will probably be in No. 1 doubles, where Bahme and Dobson may face another tough test from Tom Kelemen and Mark Wilkinson of Provo.

"That should be a fun match to watch," Sperry said.

The Thunderbirds know what's on the line. Sperry believes that having a real chance to defend their 4A state title may hinge on the outcome.

"If you want to take state, getting No. 1 seeds are almost everything," he explained. "You have to be deep and dominant. That means getting your teams into the finals and if you're not a No. 1 seed, you face a lot of land mines."

Due to A.P. testing going on today, the time of the first matches has been moved up to 9:30 a.m. at Mountain View.

• Jared Lloyd can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

NO. 1 SINGLES -- First round: Matt Wihongi (To) def. Jorge Encinas (MV), 6-1, 5-7, 6-3; Collin Black (Or) def. David Whiting (SV), 6-4, 6-3; Carter Mix (Pr) def. Brenden Warren (Pa), 6-0, 6-2. Semifinals: Tanner Perry (TV) def. Wihongi (To), 6-0, 6-0; Warren (Pr) def. Black (Or), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Consolation: Warren (Pa) def. Whiting (SV), forfeit. NO. 2 SINGLES -- First round: Cole Burr (MV) def. Kenyon Finch (Or), 3-6, 6-0, 6-3; Andrew Whiting (SV) def. Dylan King (To), 7-6, 6-1; Nils Otterstrom (Pr) def. Josh Kobler (Pa), 6-0, 6-0. Semifinals: Cal Larson (TV) def. Burr (MV), 6-2, 6-1; Otterstrom (Pr) def. Whiting (SV), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Consolation: King (To) def. Kobler (Pa), 6-1, 6-3. NO. 3 SINGLES -- First round: Nathanial Gates (Pr) def. Erick Gutowski (To), 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; Taylor Bankhead (SV) def. Drew Stone (Or), 6-3, 6-4; Adam Lewis (MV) def. Blake Reynolds (Pa), 6-0, 6-1. Semifinals: Skyler Evans (TV) def. Gates (Pr), 6-0, 6-0; Lewis (MV) def. Bankhead (SV), 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. Consolation: Stone (Or) def. Reynolds (Pa), 6-0, 6-0. NO. 1 DOUBLES -- First round: K. Lloyd/T. Lee (Or) def. K. Farley/D. Gonzalez (MV), 6-1, 7-6; T. Rymer/A. Wiscomb (SV) def. J. Knighton/R. Johnson (To), 6-4, 6-4; T. Keleman/M. Wilkinson (Pr) def. M. Finlinson/C. Brockbank (Pa), 6-1, 6-1. Semifinals: B. Bahme/P. Dobson (TV) def. Lloyd/Lee (Or), 7-6 (7-0), 6-2; Keleman/Wilkinson (Pr) def. Rymer/Wiscomb (SV), 4-6, 6-2, 7-5. Consolation: Knighton/Johnson (To) def. Finlinson/Brockbank (Pa), 6-3, 6-3. NO. 2 DOUBLES -- First round: P. Moody/S. Peterson (Or) def. T. Merrill/J. Park (SV), 6-4, 6-4; J. Porter/R. Chadburn (Pr) def. A. Jasper/A. Jensen (To), 6-2, 6-2; R. Spencer/ M. Wolfort (MV) def. R. Hart/J. Moser (Pa), 6-1, 6-1. Semifinals: M. Christensen/ D. Wardrop (TV) def. Moody/Peterson (Or), 6-1, 6-1; Spencer/Wolfort (MV) def. Porter/Chadburn (Pr), 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. Consolation: Jasper/Jensen (To) def. Hart/Moser (Pa), 6-0, 6-0.

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