Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville's junior varsity boys tennis team, despite going 1-2 in this weekend's Tiger Duals tournament at the EHS tennis center, gained valuable experience that will bode well for the players in the future, felt Tiger JV coach Kirk Schlueter.
The Tigers dropped an 11-1 decision to Quincy in their opening-round match to Quincy Friday evening, then fell to Highland 4-1 early Saturday morning but defeated Jersey 3-2 in the seventh-place match later Saturday morning.
The Tigers split their squad for the weekend, with the JV playing in the Tiger Duals and the varsity in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights for the Pitchford Invitational tournament.
“It was a tough weekend,” Schlueter said. “We had eight teams here; the tournament went really great, but I think it's great to have the local guys playing; the tournament winner, (Jefferson City, Mo.), obviously came the farthest, along with Quincy, but it's great to see that – bringing in some outside competition like that.
“The guys played some tough matches this weekend; every single team this weekend was playing their varsity team and playing guys who were trying to go to state – I think that's a very valuable experience to have; they had to play guys who, in many cases, were better than them. It tested them and forced them to play at a higher level than what they're used to and I think that's great.”
The experience gained by the younger players will be a big help for the up-and-coming players on the Tiger team, Schlueter felt. “You look at guys like Nick Hobin, Ben Blake, Ethan Booker – there's a future for those guys here in the program,” Schlueter said. “It was great for them to see that level of competition this weekend.
“I don't feel we played bad dual matches this weekend; I think we certainly saw some spots where we could be stronger, saw some spots where we could learn things; I feel like, as a team, we played well, we competed well the entire weekend. I think we ran into some teams that were better than us and I think that's a great experience.”
“We've got a lot of young guys out here,” said Panther coach Steve Flowers. “We only have two seniors; the rest of them are underclassmen. We're expecting a lot next year. It's just been a big learning experience for us this year; we're in the middle of (the Mississippi Valley Conference) this year, and next year we expect to compete with Triad and hopefully challenge them for the conference; we expect to compete with anyone next year.”
Against Quincy Friday, Thomas Sigango was the Tigers' only winner on the day, defeating the Blue Devils' Liam McReynolds 6-4, 7-5; Hobin fell to Zach Willing, Blake dropped a decision to Blake Hayden, Booker fell to Grayson Arns, Coleman Earnest was defeated by Caleb Vonderheide, Tanner Pieri fell to Matt Harmann, Carson Whitney dropped a decision to Aubrey Erwin and Ran Gregory lost to Drew Figge in singles play. In doubles play, Hobin/Blake lost to Haden/Arns, Booker/Pieri fell to Willing/Vonderheide, Earnest/Sigango dropped a decision to McReynolds/Harmann and Whitney/Carson Adams lost to Erwin/Figge.
Against Highland, the Bulldogs' Dylan Borgetzi defeated Booker 6-1, 6-0 while Pieri defeated Allen Sutherland 7-5, 2-6, 10-8 to split the singles matches, while Nate English/Andrew Roach defeated Hobin/Blake, Tyler Barblitz/Dacoda Reichman defeated Sigango/Whitney 2-6, 6-4, 13-11 and Adams/Gregory lost to Connor Barton/Zane Robertson 6-0, 6-0 to give the Bulldogs a sweep in the doubles matches.
Against the Panthers, Hobin defeated Wadlow 6-0, 6-0 and Blake defeated Hubble 6-0, 6-0 to take both singles matches while JCHS' Bryant/Stackpole downed Booker/Earnest 6-1, 6-3, EHS' Pieri/Sigango upended Roberts/Freund of Jersey 7-5, 6-1 and the Panthers' Dax Kanalakan/Sam Davidson defeated Gregory/Adams 6-0, 6-1.
