EHS tennis takes 5th at league; Reimer earns 6th in singles
By Michael Ashford (Contact)
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Emporia High sophomore Chris Reimer says he’s been feeling better lately about his tennis game, and he’s produced the results to back up that belief.
Reimer has looked as sharp as ever over the last couple of weeks of the season, and he took that momentum into Monday’s Centennial League Championships at the Kossover Tennis Center in Topeka.
The sophomore came away with a sixth-place finish in singles play out of 20 competitors, improving upon his ninth-place showing from a year ago to lead the EHS boys tennis team to a fifth-place finish in the team standings with 53 points.
“I actually thought I played really well,” said Reimer, who went 4-2 on the day. “Both of my losses were very close, and I had a chance to win both of them. I’m pretty happy with how things turned out.”
The past four tournaments — including Monday’s League meet — have seen Reimer compile a 14-4 record, evidence that he’s peaking at the right time with the postseason just beginning.
He credited his late-season renaissance with some technique adjustments midway through the season.
“At the start of the year, I just wasn’t feeling it,” he said. “I wasn’t hitting my strokes like I wanted. They just felt awkward.
“I’ve now hit a streak where my strokes feel how they’re supposed to feel. I did a lot of different things at practice and in hitting with my dad, and eventually I found something that worked. I started using that, and I’ve felt really good these past few tournaments.”
At the League tournament, Reimer opened with three straight 8-0 victories, those coming against Topeka West’s Hunter Spes, Topeka High’s Steven Wright and Junction City’s Raheem Zeno.
Then came the closest match of the day for Reimer, as he battled it out with Washburn Rural’s Johnny Stueve, who earlier in the season defeated Reimer, 8-2.
The two went back and forth and eventually played to a 6-all tie before Stueve — who finished sixth at the State meet last year as a freshman — took the final two games to hand Reimer his first loss of the day, 8-6.
Reimer bounced back with an 8-3 victory over Seaman’s Tyler Nelson before closing out his day with an 8-5 loss to Washburn Rural’s Bobby Florence.
“He’s looking better and better, and that’s good to see heading into Regionals,” EHS coach Matt Irby said of Reimer’s day. “He was very competitive in a very competitive singles draw.”
The Spartans got two more top-10 finishes out of the tournament, as the doubles team of Jonathan Roman and Brandon Heavener placed ninth while the doubles team of Sergio Segura and Mark DeDonder came in 10th place.
Interestingly enough, both doubles pairs went through their first five matches of the day with 3-2 records, setting up a showdown between the two in the final match to claim ninth place.
The match between the duo of Roman and Heavener and the pair of Segura and DeDonder followed the similarities with the rest of the day, as it took a tiebreaker to decide the winning team. That’s where Roman and Heavener took a 7-2 decision to win the match, 8-7 (7-2).
Emporia High’s final entrant in the tournament, singles player David Nasrazadani, placed 14th.
Nasrazadani finished with a 2-4 record, collecting wins over Topeka High’s John Dechanz, 8-3, and Shawnee Heights’ Brandon Nunamaker, 8-1.
Irby said he saw flashes of good play from all his players, but said it wasn’t consistent enough for the Spartans to make a big statement at the tournament.
“I don’t know if it was a lack of experience at top-notch meets, but some of our guys looked timid at some points,” Irby said. “Their inexperience in big meets showed up too much, and sometimes they weren’t hitting the shots they normally make.
“So we’ve got some stuff to work on before Regionals.”
The Spartans will travel back to the Kossover Center on Thursday to play in the seven-team Regional for a chance at the State Tournament.
Centennial League Meet
Monday at Kossover Tennis Center
Team Scores
Washburn Rural 90, Hayden 67, Manhattan 54, Shawnee Heights 54, Emporia 53, Seaman 51, Topeka West 49, Topeka High 44, Junction City 20, Highland Park 19.
EHS Results
Singles
Chris Reimer, Emp, def. Hunter Spes, TW, 8-0; Reimer def. Steven Wright, TH, 8-0; Reimer def. Raheem Zeno, JC, 8-0; Johnny Stueve, WR, def. Reimer, 8-6; Reimer def. Tyler Nelson, Sea, 8-2; Bobby Florence, WR, def. Reimer 8-5.
Singles
Chance Joost, SH, def. David Nasrazadani, Emp, 8-2; Bobby Florence, WR, def. Nasrazadani, 8-0; Zach Lyman, Man, def. Nasrazadani, 8-2; Nasrazadani def. John Dechanz, TH, 8-3; Nasrazadani def. Brandon Nunamaker, SH, 8-1; Hunter Spes, TW, def. Nasrazadani, 8-7 (7-5).
Doubles
Brassel/Lepse, WR, def. Mark DeDonder/Sergio Segura, Emp, 8-1; Wiebler/DeLao, TW, def. DeDonder/Segura, 8-0; DeDonder/Segura def. Brown/Bontrager, JC, 8-7 (7-3); DeDonder/Segura def. Lin/Johnson, Man, 8-3; DeDonder/Segura def. Campfield/Williams, HP, 8-5; Roman/Heavener, Emp, def. DeDonder/Segura, 8-7 (7-2).
Doubles
Davids/Gunn, TW, def. Brandon Heavener/Jonathan Roman, Emp, 8-3; Martinek/Bach, Hay, def. Heavener/Roman, 8-4; Heavener/Roman def. Tobaben/Covert, SH, 8-1; Heavener/Roman def. Etzel/Sousa, Sea, 8-5; Heavener/Roman def. Robinson/Chang-Yong, TH, 8-2; Heavener/Roman def. DeDonder/Segura, Emp, 8-7 (7-2).
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