South Whidbey began its first tennis season under Karyle Kramer with a loss Thursday afternoon.

Burlington-Edison, a Northwest Conference school, defeated the Falcons in Langley 6-1.

The Tigers nearly swept the Falcons, save freshman Noah Frank’s lone win against Tigers senior Allen Maskell. Frank won the third singles match 6-4, 6-4.

“Noah toughed it out in a very close match,” Kramer said. “He had a gutsy match; I’ve seen this before in Noah — the ability to pull off the close ones.”

The Falcons’ junior co-captain Guy Sparkman lost to Walker Olis 6-2, 6-2 in first singles. Jack Hood, a sophomore, lost to Tigers senior Rob Wortham, 6-2, 6-2. Falcons freshman Jonathon Peterson lost to Eric Schenk, 6-1, 6-0.

South Whidbey’s doubles teams also struggled. Burlington-Edison swept the doubles matches, beginning with first doubles pair Austin Mohler and Jansen Vandermuelen beating Falcons juniors Hayden Nichols and Kyle Simchuk, 6-4, 6-2.

The closest loss came at second doubles for South Whidbey. Junior Cameron Baldwin and freshman Charley Stelling lost to Conner Saben and Jake Kamps, 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-5).

Kramer said Baldwin and Stelling lost by two points in the third set of a two-and-a-half hour match. She credited the duo’s lobs and net play as the reason they rallied in the second and third sets.

“I was proud of them for never giving up and especially for thinking, not just hitting,” Kramer said. “I’m really trying to get the guys to think for themselves during the games and not wait until the coaches are allowed to talk with them in between sets.”

Third doubles Chase Collins, a Falcons junior, and freshman Trent Fallon lost to Nick Edson and Kevin Eubanks, 6-0, 6-2.

The Falcons hosted Anacortes after the Record went to press on Friday. South Whidbey plays Bellingham at 2:45 p.m. on Monday at home.