Wabash Tennis Tops Jay County/South Adams
Wabash was invited to a newly formed Patriot Duals Tournment at Jay County High School in Portland Indiana. Wabash Tennis left Jay County with wins over the host team and South Adams. Wabash now has an overall record of 5-9 on the season.
In the opening match of the day, Wabash faced the Jay County Patriots. In this tightly contested match, Wabash was able to pull out the win 3-2 on the strength of 2 third set super-tiebreakers at 2 singles and 2 doubles.
A super-tiebreaker was needed to settle the 2 singles match. Dinkins for Wabash dropped set 1 to Simon Dirken 3-6. “Alex found some confidence in his serve in the 2nd set, allowing him to control the points and win a very well played set to tie the match.” Coach Mattern stated. Dinkins forced a tiebreaker at 6-6 and then won the tiebreaker (7-5) to even the match a set each. Tournament format includes a super-tiebreaker to be played as a third set. Playing each other point for point early, Alex was able to win the match with solid serves and net volleys (10-7).
The most comfortable win for Wabash came at 3 singles. Eli Mattern, after adjusting to a change of raquets due to broken strings in game 2, won the first set 6-4 over Eli Dirksen. Coach Mattern shared, “Eli had to overcome some adversity which can be a challenge for a young player with the raquet change right off the get go in a tournament match. We were happy for him to experience that for the first time and to push through and still get a win.” Mattern, behind patience and good decision making cruised to a 2 set victory, winning the second set 6-2.
2 Doubles was also a nail biter for the Apaches. Dom Baker and Ashton Coffman went three sets including a tie breaker. Losing set 1 (3-6), the duo was able to find their competitive focus and fight to a second set score of 6-6 and finish off the set by winning the tiebreak 7-3. In the deciding super-tiebreaker Wabash 2 dubs took and early lead of 6-1, stumbled a bit but still leading 7-5 before sealing the win 11-9 giving the Apaches the final point needed for a good team win.
In the second match of the day, the Apaches faced South Adams. On the strength of some pretty solid tennis Wabash took the match 4-1.
Playing at 2 singles for the first time this season, Eli Mattern cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Neuschwander from South Adams to give the Apache Netters an early point in the match.
After a bit of a slow start, Cooper Long and Alex Dinkins playing at 1 dubs added point number 2 for the Apaches. After being down 1-4 in set one, Long and Dinkins won 6 consecutive games to seal set 1 6-4. Mattern shared, “Alex and Cooper hadn’t played together or even practiced together at 1 doubles yet this year. Understandably, it took some time for them to smooth out the communication and style of play, but once they did they controlled the match with some smart and aggressive doubles action.” After winning set 1 with a score of 6-4, Long and Dinkins were able to win the second set, also with a score of 6-4.
The match was then sealed with an Apache win at 2 doubles. Coffman and Baker winning in another up and down match 3-6, 6-2, 10-6 super tiebreak. “Dominic and Ashton continue to provide the team with points by winning tight matches. A point of emphasis for these two however is to not start slow and to play well consistently.” shared Mattern
Rounding out the wins for the Apaches was Derek Reed at 3 singles. Playing in his first varsity singles match, Derek also needed a super-tiebreaker to find a way to a win. Reed won set 1 handily 6-2 and controlled the points from start to finish. In set 2, Neuschwander of South Adams turned the tables, frustrating Reed by keeping the ball in play for long points, ultimately winning the set 6-1. In the super-tiebreak Reed was able to hold on to win the match 10-8.
Also competing for the the Apaches was Nicholas Ewing at 1 singles and TJ Fritter playing JV singles. Ewing played well at the very tough and competitve 1 singles spot but lost both matches. TJ Fritter won both of his 8 game pro-sets on the day.
Wabash travels to Elwood on Monday.
