Ark Valley News - Freshmen medal at state tennis

Hayden Brauer volleys at the net on a service return against Andover May 13. Brauer and Colby Swift won the match to reach the medal round.

Freshmen medal at state tennis
By Randy Fisher
Last Updated: May 19, 2016

Last year, the Valley Center High School tennis team sent three seniors to the Class 5A state tournament. This year, the Hornets duplicated last year's numbers with three underclassmen.

Playing May 13 and 14 at Maize South High School, freshmen Hayden Brauer and Colby Swift earned a 12th-place medal in doubles, while sophomore Garrett Rogers was one victory away from medaling in singles.

"I am very proud of the effort these young men displayed during the tournament," head coach Dean Schulz said in an email afterward. He missed Saturday's action while attending his daughter's college graduation.

"They kept fighting, even when the odds were against them in matches. Garrett especially did an excellent job battling against players that he normally struggles against. Colby and Hayden impressed everyone at the tournament with their level of play."

Shaking off the opening-round jitters on a windy Friday the 13th, Swift and Brauer easily won their first match of the tournament 6-2, 6-0 over Jaden Castinado and Parker Schanefelt of St. Thomas Aquinas.

In the second round, Swift and Brauer ran into the hot Bishop Carroll team of Ty Stranghoner and Jackson Oxler, losing 6-3, 6-0 to fall into the consolation bracket.

The Hornets rebounded nicely. Tied 5-5 in the nine-game pro set, Swift and Brauer won four of the match's last five games to win 9-6 over Emporia's Aaron Lane and Cameron Kienholz.

Valley Center still had work to do to reach the medal round.

Swift and Brauer matched up with Tabor Bayles and Colin Wreath of Andover, a team they had split two matches with during the regular season. Swift and Brauer were confident, but knew they'd have to play well.

Rain and thunderstorms had other plans, however, as the tournament was suspended for a couple of hours to let the storm pass.

After the delay, Valley Center and Andover locked into a back-and-forth duel. The nine-game set was tied six times before it went to a seven-point tiebreaker.

On solid serving by Swift and aggressive net play by Brauer, the Hornets got up 6-2 before holding on for the 7-4 victory. That win assured the freshmen of a state medal.

"It's very unreal," Swift said.

"It feels good," Brauer said. "… It was crazy, that's the way I'd put it."

Meanwhile, sophomore Garrett Rogers, also in his first state berth, went 1-2, losing a close match to Salina Central in the second round of the consolation bracket to finish his run in the tournament. He ended the season with a 22-16 record.

"I'm not ready for it to be over yet," Rogers said. "It kind of leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Sure it's great to get here, but it's just a little bit disappointing to have it turn out like that. I didn't play bad, so I don't really have any complaints."

Rogers lost the opening round 6-2, 7-5 to Eisenhower junior Luke Howard, who went on to place third.

In the first round of the consolation bracket, Rogers got up early and never trailed against Shawnee-Mill Valley junior Jansen McCabe, winning 9-3.

In a win-or-go-home second-round scenario, Rogers battled Salina Central sophomore Will Hayes. Rogers fell behind 4-1 as Hayes took the early momentum. Rogers came back to tie the match 7-7, but couldn't win another game, falling 9-7.

Heading into the second day of the tournament, Swift and Brauer hoped to parlay their momentum from Day 1 into a high medal finish. Unfortunately, they lost all three matches and finished 12th.

Regardless, Valley's first boys freshman doubles team to play at state, let alone medal, had a lot to be proud of.

"Honestly, we thought we were going to get crushed," Brauer said. "With all the hard work we did this summer, it paid off today, this whole tournament."

"We're very proud of them," said assistant coach Matt Klusener, who filled in Saturday for Schulz. "They're tough competitors. That's why they've gotten this far. They hate losing. They hate losing a point."

In their first match Saturday, Brauer and Swift could never develop a rhythm against the eventual fifth-place finishers, Kyle Rice and Zach Shima of Topeka West, losing 9-3.

Hoping to get back on the winning track, Brauer and Swift edged in front of Bishop Carroll's Seth Law and Christia Nguyen 3-2. The Eagles clawed back and went up 6-4, as Brauer and Swift began losing their composure.

"A lot of guys would have just given up … when they were kind of bickering and fighting amongst themselves a little bit," Klusener said. "I looked at them and said, ‘Hey, are you guys going to be the best players that we have or are you going to act like freshmen who just came out of eighth grade? Are you going to be the best doubles team I've seen all year or are you just going to give up?'

"I put it on them a little bit. Them being freshmen, I wasn't sure how they'd handle it, exactly. But I was pretty sure they would respond to that. And they did."

They responded by rallying from a 7-6 deficit to an 8-7 lead but couldn't finish. After Carroll tied the match, Valley Center edged in front 5-4 in the tiebreaker. The Golden Eagles came back to win the tiebreaker 7-5 and the match 9-8.

In the battle for 11th place, Swift and Brauer dropped their first four games to Colin McCue and Lazar Vlahovic of Eisenhower. But there would be no miraculous Valley rally, as the Tigers rolled 9-3.

"We were probably just a little shocked from the second match," Swift said of their slow start.

"Almost every game they were in it. A point here or there and we're only down a game," Klusener said. "I wasn't really too disappointed, being there 3-6 and having a shot on a side we thought we could maybe get two games and get right back in it. It just didn't go for them."

Despite the frustrations of a disappointing finish, it was a good experience for the duo.

"I'm happy with where we're at as freshmen," Swift said of their 26-15 season.

"They really got great experience that can only help them for the years to come," Klusener said. "We're real excited to see what's going to happen. They'll just come back more mature and even better."

Eisenhower won the team championship, edging Salina Central by one point, 32-31. Newton was third with 28 points. Valley Center tallied five points to place 14th out of 21 teams.