It was a mixed bag of results for the Emporia High boys tennis team Thursday afternoon.
To begin, what was scheduled to be a quad was reduced to a dual when two teams backed out, leaving Emporia to battle against only Wichita East.
Once play got started, several Spartans looked impressive while some never could get going, as Emporia went 1-2 in the doubles matches before splitting the six singles sets.
The lone Spartan duo to come away with a victory in doubles play was Mark DeDonder and Jonathan Roman, who defeated Alex Tretbar and Nick Pompeo, 7-5, 6-2.
Things began poorly for DeDonder and Roman, as they dug themselves into a 3-0 hole to begin the first set in a best-two-of-three match.
However, the pair fought back to tie the game at 5 before taking the final two games of the first set to win, 7-5. The set at times became somewhat heated, with each team vocalizing their frustrations and moments of glee for all to hear.
“Those are two guys that I was happy with because I don’t ever get mixed performances out of them when it comes to playing with energy,” EHS coach Matt Irby said. “They always try really hard. Technically, they could play better, but they always play with emotion, and I like that.”
In the second set, DeDonder and Roman found the going to be a little easier, dispatching of Tretbar and Pompeo, 6-2, to win in straight sets.
“That was a tough battle. They were a pretty good team,” DeDonder said. “They had a lot of good volleys and pretty decent serves. I was pretty surprised we came away with the win.”
The No. 3 doubles pair of Sergio Segura and Chris Reimer also battled through a closely contested first set in their match with Wilson Yip and David Mettman but could not pull off the same feat as DeDonder and Roman, as Segura and Reimer fell in straight sets, 7-6(7-2), 6-2.
At the No. 1 doubles spot, Kyle deBlonk and Grant Price never could get comfortable, dropping straight sets to Dawson Shaver and Jordan Rickard, 6-0, 6-1.
In singles action, deBlonk, Reimer and Segura each claimed victories while DeDonder, Price and Roman fell.
In No. 2 singles action, deBlonk defeated Rickard, 6-2, 6-3, while Segura topped Yip, 6-1, 6-3, at the No. 6 spot.
Reimer had the longest match of the day against Tretbar at No. 3 singles, as it took a 10-8 tiebreaker to decide the first set — which Reimer won, 7-6 — before Reimer took the second set, 6-4.
In the tiebreaker to decide the first set, Reimer fell behind, 6-2, before fending off five set points, and Reimer gutted out the victory to take the tiebreaker, 10-8.
“He keeps maturing — emotionally he’s maturing,” Irby said. “After losing a point, he’s not letting it hurt him as much as he was earlier this year. Technically, he’s playing a smarter game. He’s recognizing when to hit certain shots and when to lay off and when to be aggressive.
“He also showed me a lot of fight. He showed me a lot today.”
At the No. 1 singles spot, Shaver defeated Price, who is battling a slight shoulder injury, in consecutive 6-0 sets. At No. 4 singles, Roman fell to Mettman, 7-6(7-4), 7-5, and Pompeo defeated DeDonder, 6-4, 6-3, at the No. 5 slot.
Interestingly, because the field went from four teams to two, both coaches agreed to the best-two-of-three format, which is the format used at the Regional and State tournaments.
The players seemed to enjoy the setup more than the normal single-set format, despite not one match requiring a third set.
“I actually liked it a lot better,” DeDonder said. “If you lose one game, you can start over brand new. You can start again and kick it in gear and focus on winning the next two sets.”
Thursday at Emporia
No. 1 doubles
Dawson Shaver/Jordan Rickard def. Grant Price/Kyle deBlonk, 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 doubles
Mark DeDonder/Jonathan Roman def. Alex Tretbar/Nick Pompeo, 7-5, 6-2
No. 3 doubles
Wilson Yip/David Mettman def. Chris Reimer/Sergio Segura, 7-6(7-2), 6-2
No. 1 singles
Dawson Shaver def. Grant Price, 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 singles
Kyle deBlonk def. Jordan Rickard, 6-2, 6-3
No. 3 singles
Chris Reimer def. Alex Tretbar, 7-6(10-8), 6-4
No. 4 singles
David Mettman def. Jonathan Roman 7-6(7-4), 7-5
No. 5 singles
Nick Pompeo def. Mark DeDonder 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 singles
Sergio Segura def. Wilson Yip, 6-1, 6-3