Story originally printed in the Onalaska Life or online at www.onalaskalife.com
Published - Friday, May 16, 2008
Onalaska tennis team gains MVC position with Aquinas win
Onalaska High School's boys tennis team entered the season with proven players at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, and at No. 1 doubles, but more unproven players in the other flights. Onalaska split the matches in those four flights in a dual with two-time defending Mississippi Valley Conference champion and state-ranked Aquinas at the Gullikson Courts Monday, sweeping the other three flights in a 5-2 win that put the Hilltoppers in the driver's seat to win their first league title since 2001.
Alex Aschenbrenner and Nick Klos at No. 3 doubles earned the most dominating OHS win, dropping just two games. Brett Polito at No. 1 singles rebounded from failing to win a point in a third-set tiebreak with Central's Victor Mirasola Friday for a 6-0, 6-4 win over Bobby Steingraeber.
“I was most happy with how our No. 3 doubles team played,” Onalaska head coach Kurt Gutknecht said. “They have a tendency not to finish off matches, but they played a very good second set. Ideally I'd like to see Brett start to do a better job of closing out matches.”
Christian Handal at No. 2 singles dropped just one point in a second-set tiebreak to win his match 7-5, 7-6. Alec Bronston and Ben McClellan at No. 1 doubles rebounding from being down 5-4 with the match on the rackets of the Blugolds in the third set for a 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 win.
“Christian didn't play his greatest match, but still won,” Gutknecht said. “It's a good sign that he won when he wasn't at his best.
“But we'll have to do a better job of taking charge of the match if we play them again at No. 1 doubles Thursday (at the conference tournament, after the Community Life deadline). “We have to be offensive and not defensive-minded.”
Ben Harring and Luke Thornton at No. 2 doubles won 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Harring improved to 14-0 this season, including 13-0 in doubles matches and a win in his lone singles match.
The Hilltoppers easily could have had a 6-1 win with Nick Stelloh at No. 3 singles up 5-1 in the third set, before falling 6-4, 5-7, 7-5. Dave LaGrange at No. 4 singles won just five games.
Harring and Thornton had to sweat to stay unbeaten Friday after dropping the first three points in a third-set tiebreak. Thornton held his two service points to get OHS within 3-2.
Onalaska got a mini-break on a Thornton deep lob, before taking the lead for good when Harring held his two serves. Harring converted a volley on match point and a 7-5 win. The Hilltoppers held serve on each of their final five service points and won six of the final seven points overall.
Handahl won the other match that needed to be completed when the original dual three days earlier was suspended, winning 6-3 in the third. Handahl took advantage of his strong one-handed backhand, Gutknecht said.
Central got what could be a huge ruling two days earlier when Aquinas was ruled to have used an ineligible player at No. 2 singles in their dual April 15. That also meant improperly flighted players at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, forcing Aquinas to forfeit all three matches.
The net effect was Central moving from 21-21 to 24-18, hurting Holmen, Logan and Tomah's chances to catch the Red Raiders for third. But it also gave OHS much more margin for error, turning a two-point lead entering Thursday into a five-point advantage.
All stories copyright 2006 Onalaska Life and other attributed sources.