TOLEDO – Knowing their realistic chances of winning the first two singles flights were slim and none Thursday afternoon, the Fremont Ross boys tennis team knew it needed to sweep the remaining three matches in order to upset St. Francis.
Alex Thatcher
Lucas Cronin
The Little Giants nearly pulled it off.
Ross swept the doubles matches but lost a three-set heart-breaker at No. 3 singles in a 3-2 loss to the Knights.
“The whole idea was the win No. 3 singles and 1 and 2 doubles,” coach Lisa Wolfe said. “They have very strong 1 and 2 singles so we knew that wasn’t going to happen on those points.”
Alex Thatcher and Lucas Cronin combined to form a strong team at No. 1 doubles, defeating St. Francis Michael Boutros/Michael Allen, 6-3, 6-2. At No. 2 doubles, Ethan Moyer and Drew Miller cruised to a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Noah Kasper/Chris Eid.
“Alex and Lcuas playing together, they talk about everything,” Wolfe said. “They talk about, ‘This is what we’re going to do, I’ll serve to his backhand, and you attack the net.’ They have the point figured out before it happens.
Ethan Moyer
Andrew Miller
“And Ethan and Drew were playing fabulous tonight,” she added. “They did a great job, overall. I like Ethan and Drew together. I like that combination.”
Sam Long, the team’s best chance for a win in singles play, won his first set against Alex Kasper, 7-5, then played a close second set, losing 4-6. Kasper then caught fire in the final set, defeating Long, 6-1.
“I think confidence got very high for the St. Francis kid. The last set, or four games, he just couldn’t miss,” Wolfe said. “His confidence inflated on his side at that point. We just couldn’t do anything about it.”
Nils Nolte and Trevor Weickert lost their Nos. 1 and 2 singles matches, 2-6, 1-6 and 3-6, 1-6, respectively. Though they knew they were going to be in store for rough matches, Wolfe was pleased by their willingness to take one for the team.
Sam Long
“(Nolte and Weickert) were ok with that because they knew it was for the team, they bought into that and that’s a good thing.
The Little Giants are now 8-3 overall, 2-3 in the TRAC. They will have a couple of long days the next 48 hours, playing the Port Clinton Invitational Friday afternoon/evening and then hosting the Little Giant Invitational on Saturday. Both events are eight-school, four-flight doubles tournaments.
St. Francis 3, Fremont Ross 2
No. 1 singles: Greg Leroux (SF) def. Nils Nolte, 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 singles: Chad Huss (SF) def. Trevor Weickert, 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 singles: Alex Kasper (SF) def. Sam Long, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1
No. 1 doubles: Alex Thatcher/Lucas Cronin (FR) def. Michael Boutros/Michael Allen, 6-3, 6-2
No. 2 doubles: Ethan Moyer/Drew Miller (FR) def. Noah Kasper/Chris Eid, 6-0, 6-2