Photo by Carly Pearson
Emporia High’s Chase Miller returns a serve Tuesday afternoon at Emporia High School. Miller took the No. 2 singles title with a 3-0 record.
Simply being more consistent than his opponents paid off for Emporia High senior tennis player Chase Miller on Tuesday.
In the first tournament of the spring, Miller came away with a first-place finish at the Emporia High Invitational after sweeping through the field at the No. 2 singles spot, and he said he did it with steady play in all three matches he played.
“What we’ve been working on this year is being consistent, and that worked really well for me today,” Miller said. “In tennis, you’ve got to hit the ball back consistently to win the game. It’s pretty basic, but it takes a while to learn.”
Miller defeated Ottawa’s Andrew Lanning, 8-0, and Hayden’s Kane Lesperance, 8-2, in pool play to advance to the first-place match against Lawrence’s David Nieto. Miller went on to dispatch Nieto by a score of 8-3, earning himself the title and giving his coach, Matt Irby, something to think about in the process.
“He was the most consistent out of our guys all day long,” Irby said. “We’ve got three or four guys going after that (No. 2 singles) spot, and he obviously made a case for himself, for sure. He’s one of our options.”
Miller was the top finisher for the Emporia High boys, who finished third out of six teams at their home invitational. The Spartans finished with 17 team points, while Hayden won the team title with 22 points. Andover Central was second with 19 points.
“Overall, today wasn’t great and it wasn’t bad,” Irby said. “We’ve got a lot to work on. We now know what we have to work on.”
Photo by Carly Pearson
Jonathan Roman serves while playing in a doubles match Tuesday afternoon at Emporia High School.
The next highest finish for EHS went to the No. 2 doubles pair of Brandon Heavener and Nathan Ferree, as the duo came in third after tallying a 2-1 record.
Heavener and Ferree opened the invite with an 8-4 victory over the No. 2 doubles team from Ottawa before falling in their second match of pool play to Hayden’s Zach Hanks and Gabe O’Shea, 8-4.
In the match for third-place, Heavener and Ferree cruised past Kyle Beatie and Blaine Sherwood of Andover Central, 8-1.
At the No. 1 singles spot, Sergio Segura came in fourth, going 1-1 in pool play before falling to Topeka High’s Austin Wiebler, 8-6, in the third-place match. In No. 1 doubles play, Emporia’s tandem of Mark DeDonder and Jonathan Roman also placed fourth, as they lost, 8-6, to the Lawrence pair of John McGrew and Ryan Abbott in the third-place match.
“The one thing I liked was everybody competed. Nobody gave up, and I like to see that,” Irby said. “These being the first matches of the season, there were some first-tournament jitters, and the guys had to get used to playing in match scenarios again, but we competed hard in every match, I thought.”
Photo by Carly Pearson
Emporia High’s Mark DeDonder returns the ball Tuesday afternoon while playing in a doubles match at Emporia High School.
The Emporia High boys are back in action Thursday when they play host to another home invitational, which will begin at 3 p.m. at the EHS tennis courts.
Emporia High Invite
Tuesday at EHS
Team Scores
1. Hayden 22, 2. Andover Central 19, 3. Emporia 17, 4. Lawrence 16, 5. Topeka High 9, 6. Ottawa 5.
EHS Individual Results
No. 1 Singles
Sergio Segura, Emp, def. Tyler Sheldon, Ott, 8-6; Thomas Haefele, Hay, def. Segura, 8-1; Austin Wiebler, TH, def. Segura, 8-6.
No. 2 Singles
Chase Miller, Emp, def. Andrew Lanning, Ott, 8-0; Miller def. Kane Lesperance, Hay, 8-2; Miller def. David Nieto, Law, 8-3.
No. 1 Doubles
Mark DeDonder/Jonathan Roman, Emp, def. Cole/Ward, Ott, 8-6; Martinek/Bach, Hay, def. DeDonder/Roman, 8-4; McGrew/Abbott, Law, def. DeDonder/Roman, 8-6.
No. 2 Doubles
Brandon Heavener/Nathan Ferree, Emp, def. Concoran/Allen, Ott, 8-4; Hanks/O’Shea, Hay, def. Heavener/Ferree, 8-4; Heavener/Ferree def. Beatie/Sherwood, AC, 8-1.
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