FREMONT – Skyler Huff was ready for his chance on the court.
Sklyer Huff
The Fremont Ross senior was hours away from his first varsity match as the Little Giants celebrated Senior Night, but fate intervened.
About the time his teammates were getting set to face Bowling Green, Huff was wheeled into emergency surgery for an appendectomy.
“He texted me first thing this morning and asked what time he had to be in school,” coach Lisa Wolfe said. “He said, ‘Coach I do not want to miss Senior Night.’ I said you have to be at school by 11, but you also need to take care of yourself.
“At 2:00 his mom texts me and said we’re at the emergency room. …About 30 minutes later she said he’s going into for an emergency appendectomy and I said, ‘Oh my.’
“He was going to make his varsity debut on Senior Night, for goodness sakes! The kid was excited.”
Huff’s surgery went well and he stayed in the hospital Tuesday and is expected to be home Wednesday.
Huff’s Little Giant teammates kept him in their thoughts and sent him get-well videos from the Senior Night festivities and they performed well on the court in his place, defeating the Bobcats with a 4-1 victory.
Ross easily swept the doubles matches as Alex Thatcher and Trevor Weickert combined at No. 1 doubles for a 6-0, 6-0 victory and Sam Long and Lucas Cronin won their match, 6-1, 6-0.
Nils Nolte (No. 1 singles) won his match 6-2, 6-3, as did Drew Miller, who pitched a perfect shutout at No. 3 singles, 6-0,6-0. Ethan Moyer lost at No. 2 singles, 3-6, 1-6.
Nils Nolte
“Ethan tweaked his ankle, which is not good this time of the season, and he played pretty ginger after that,” Wolfe said. “We’re going to rest tomorrow and hopefully he’s ready to roll. He’s icing and prepping right now.”
In addition to Huff, other seniors recognized for their careers included Long, Nolte, Thatcher, Weickert and Santi Minor.
“I will definitely miss the leadership that they brought to the team and hopefully the underclassmen have learned from them – and I know that they have, I’m seeing leadership in the underclassmen. Whatever the seniors are doing this season is rubbing off nicely on the underclassmen as far as the leadership goes.
“And I’m not sure I’ve ever had a senior team so academically gifted as they are,” she added. “That definitely will be missed. Everything that a coach needs in a group this senior class is. They’re wonderful kids.”
Trevor Weickert
Sam Long
Alex Thatcher
The Little Giants conclude the regular season with a 15-4 overall record and will host the sectional tournament, beginning Thursday and concluding Saturday.
Fremont Ross 4, Bowling Green 1
No. 1 singles: Nils Nolte (FR) def. Luther Shinew, 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 singles: Ivan Tarasov (BG) def. Ethan Moyer, 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 singles: Drew Miller (FR) def. Ty Gulgin, 6-0, 6-0
No. 1 doubles: Alex Thatcher/Trevor Weickert (FR) def. Mitchell Drumm, 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 doubles: Sam Long/Lucas Cronin (FR) def. Luke Konecny/James Eddington, 6-1, 6-0
Final varsity record: 15-4 overall, 4-3 TRAC
Junior Varsity
Hayley Lawrence (FR) def. Matthew Konrad, 4-0
Kennedy Bohannan (FR) def. Matthew Konrad, 4-0
Cody Lopez (FR) def. Matthew Konrad, 4-0
Luke/Dom (BG) def. Santi Minor/Isaac Minor, 6-4
Final JV record: 7-6