Writer / Summer Pratt
The boys tennis season ended this year with an overall score of 11-8. The 33 boys faced a wide variety of challenges but ultimately overcame them, such as losing three of seven varsity players. In order to strengthen their team they played six times a week, either during practices or matches. This method seemed to have worked for the boys, as they ended up ranking 22 in the State.
“Overall, I thought we did pretty well,” said Coach Kirk Webber. “We had some ups and downs. Lost some close matches and won some close matches, but we ended up winning sectionals still, which is always our main goal.”
Alec Gretencord played number one singles on the team, and ended with a close season of 13-12.
“He’s playing the best player every night, so he has a lot of tough matches,” Webber said. “Even some of the weaker teams we play, they can still have a really good number one player so he has to be ready mentally every night for a really tough match.”
Gretencord was not the only player who had a successful season. Number two doubles Andrew Myers and Mark Slaninka went 20-4 on the year, while number one doubles Josh DeFonce and Nicholas Krauter went all district 15-9.
The Sectional match came down to one student in particular, Mark Skelton.
“It came down to a third set tiebreaker,” Webber said. “It was on Mark Skelton. His elbow was hurting him and he had to take a week off before. So he hadn’t really been playing, and came into this pressure situation and it was obvious he was in pain. Somehow he found a way to step up. It was one of those matches where on both teams, every single person is watching every single point cheering – knowing that the Sectional championship is coming down to your racquet.”
“Overall I would say it was a pretty good season,” said Webber. “We met expectations, but we didn’t exceed them. It was great to win sectionals and I was still proud of the way our guys played hard and had good effort. I really enjoyed coaching this team.”
