Price, DeBlonk capture 1st at Valley Center to lead Spartan tennis team
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Monday, April 23, 2007
The Emporia High boys tennis team finished off a busy week on Saturday by finishing second as a team at the Valley Center Invitational.
The Spartans were led by the first-place finish of the No. 1 doubles duo of Grant Price and Kyle deBlonk, who went 4-0 on the day to capture the title.
But despite their championship, EHS tennis coach Matt Irby was less than pleased with the way Price and deBlonk got their early wins, saying the pair played “lethargic and with no energy” until the championship match against Jared Menard and Seth Mobray of McPherson, who they defeated, 8-2.
“In the championship match, they played very well,” Irby said. “Before that, though, they just weren’t very sharp. I was about as ticked off as I’ve ever been.”
Still, deBlonk and Price earned victories over Brett Seidl and Evan Voth of Valley Center, 8-6; Josh Reizwig and Alex Vantu of Maize, 8-4 and Kesse Riggs and Chad Whaley of Wellington, 8-4, on their way to the title.
Irby’s frustrations were not reserved just for deBlonk and Price. The coach said the whole team played “flat,” but stopped short of blaming it on the amount of matches the Spartans played last week.
“All the schools are going through it,” said Irby, who noted that the schedule was busier last week because of make-up tournaments. “I can understand being tired, and we had three meets last week. But every school has that as an excuse, so no one is really all that different.”
Jonathan Roman made it all the way to the championship match at the No. 2 singles spot before falling to Valley Center’s Sam Page.
Roman got to the meeting with Page by defeating Jeremy Goering of Valley Center, 8-3; Vien Truong of Maize, 8-5; and Tyler Miller of Wellington, 8-0. However, Roman fell short of joining deBlonk and Price with first-place finishes, as Page defeated Roman, 8-3.
In No. 1 singles, Chris Reimer lost his opening two matches — 8-6 to Valley Center’s Tyler Dort and 8-3 to Maize’s Dyland Welch — before bouncing back to take two victories, the first coming against Gary File of Wellington, 8-4, and the second over McPherson’s Ethan Waggoner, 8-1, to finish in fifth.
The No. 2 doubles team of Nathan Ferree and Brandon Heavener also took home fifth place, falling to Ryan Fluker and Danny Herman of Valley Center, 8-3, and Jake Brucks and Jeremey Reizwig of Maize, 8-5, before earning two victories in their final two matches.
Ferree and Heavener defeated Jordan Norris and Chad Yoder of Welling, 8-3, to make the fifth-place match, where they defeated Kyle Lipscomb and Sheldon Smith of Augusta, 8-5.
Emporia finished with 20 team points, nine points behind tournament champion Valley Center’s purple squad. Maize claimed third place with 19 points, with McPherson (16) and Augusta (15) rounding out the top five teams.
On Friday, Emporia finished third out of eight teams at its home invitational at EHS, as Salina Central took home first with 36 points, followed by Hayden (23), Emporia (21) and Andover (21).
Price took third place at the No. 1 singles spot with a 3-1 record, while the No. 2 doubles team of Mark DeDonder and Roman also took third.
Sergio Segura claimed fourth place at the No. 2 singles spot, and deBlonk and Reimer finished fifth at the No. 1 doubles position.
Saturday at Valley Center
Team Scores
Valley Center (purple) 29, Emporia 20, Maize 19, McPherson 16, Valley Center (gold) 15, Augusta 6, Wellington 4, El Dorado 2.
No. 1 singles
Tyler Dort (VC) def. Chris Reimer (Emp), 8-6; Dylan Welch (Maize) def. Reimer, 8-3; Reimer def. Gary File (Well), 8-4; Reimer def. Ethan Waggoner (McP), 8-1.
No. 2 singles
Jonathan Roman (Emp) def. Jeremy Goering (VC), 8-3; Roman def. Vien Truong (Maize), 8-5; Roman def. Tyler Miller (Well), 8-0; Sam Page (VC) def. Roman, 8-3.
No. 1 doubles
Grant Price/Kyle deBlonk def. Brett Seidl/Evan Voth (VC), 8-6; Price/deBlonk def. Josh Reizwig/Alex Vantu (Maize), 8-4; Price/deBlonk def. Jesse Riggs/Chad Whaley (Well), 8-4; Price/deBlonk def. Jared Menard/Seth Mobray (McP), 8-2.
No. 2 doubles
Ryan Fluker/Danny Herman (VC) def. Nathan Ferree/Brandon Heavener, 8-3; Jake Brucks/Jeremy Reizwig (Maize) def. Ferree/Heavener, 8-5; Ferree/Heavener def. Jordan Norris/Chad Yoder (Well), 8-3; Ferree/Heavener def. Kyle Lipscomb/Sheldon Smith (Aug), 8-5.
Friday at Emporia
Team Scores
Salina Central 36, Hayden 23, Emporia 21, Andover 21, Olathe South 16, Topeka High 15, Wichita Heights 11, Topeka West 8.
No. 1 singles
Richard Lee (AH) def. Grant Price (Emp), 8-1; Price def. Brad Bleich, (TW); Price def. Taylor Bach (Hay), 8-3; Price def. Andrew Adams (OS), 8-7 (7-0).
No. 2 singles
Sergio Segura def. Taylor Wolters (AH), 8-6; Segura def. Byron Bayless (TW), 8-0; Segura def. Matt O’Shea (Hay), 8-6; Sean Rothwell (WH) def. Segura, 8-6.
No. 1 doubles
Davin Anaya/Denton Coltrane (AH) def. Kyle deBlonk/Chris Reimer (Emp), 8-4; deBlonk/Reimer def. Alex Wilson/Blake Hamilton (TW), 8-7(7-4); Thomas Haefele/J.T. Peterson (Hay) def. deBlonk/Reimer, 8-7(7-5); deBlonk/Reimer def. William Bryant/Sam Hoffelt (TH), 8-6
No. 2 doubles
Mark DeDonder/Jonathan Roman (Emp) def. Trent Carter/Levi Wilson (AH), 8-6; DeDonder/Roman def. Jeremy Nioce/Alex Turner (TW), 8-1; Brendan Shehy/Zach Hanks (Hay) def. DeDonder/Roman, 8-6; def. Austin Childress/Brady Wiens (OS), 8-1.