Ark Valley News - Hornet tennis gets big win over 6A schools

Valley Center's varsity tennis team — (from left) Triston Herbst, Chance Berschauer, Colton Jones, Jos Wocher, Ray Strunk and Nathan Jones — show the medals they received for winning the team title at Topeka April 27.

Hornet tennis gets big win over 6A schools
By Randy Fisher
Last Updated: April 30, 2015

With the high school tennis postseason on the horizon, this is definitely the time of the year when you want to be approaching your peak.

Valley Center High School has been heading in that direction. The Hornets were second April 23 at Salina South and took the top two places in their own tournament April 25. But probably their biggest step so far this season came April 27 when they travelled to the Topeka High Invitational.

"I took the team to Topeka with the hopes that we would finish in the top four, possibly the top two, of the 12-team invitational," Hornet coach Dean Schulz said. "The guys really exceeded my expectations and won the tournament."

It was a team effort, as the Hornets had one second-place finish and three third-place finishes. The bottom line was a one-point Valley victory in what turned out to be a close race in the team standings.

In a predominantly Class 6A field, the Hornets scored 41 points, edging two 6A powerhouses. Manhattan, ranked fifth, accumulated 40 points. Maize, another 6A vote-getter, was third with 39 points.

Ray Strunk finished second at No. 1 singles, losing 8-5 to Manhattan's Bryce Easton in the finals. In pool play, Strunk cruised over Salina South's Caleb Dougherty (8-0), Garden City's Joe Basilio (8-1), Tanner Rodriguez of Shawnee Heights (8-0), Jud King of Lawrence Free State (8-2) and Topeka High's Matthew Gonzales (8-3).

At No. 2 singles, Jos Wocher won his first four pool matches. He recorded three wins by identical 8-2 scores over Derby's Kyle Schaffer, Shawnee Heights' Daniel Islam and Free State's Manueal Solis. Wocher's only loss on the day came 8-2 to Brennen Sanders of Maize. In the third-place match, Wocher downed Junction City's Angeleau Scott 8-4.

The No. 1 doubles team of Triston Herbst and Nathan Jones won 8-2 over Salina South, 8-3 over Garden City, 8-0 over Shawnee Heights and 8-3 over Topeka West, before losing 8-4 to Topeka High. They bounced back to edge Derby 8-4 for third.

No. 2 doubles saw Chance Berschauer and Colton Jones defeat Derby 8-5, Shawnee Heights 8-1, Garden City 8-6 and Salina South 8-0. They dropped their only match of the day in an 8-1 loss to Manhattan. It was no contest in the battle for third, as Valley routed Topeka High 8-1.

"We now have a week to prepare for league and two weeks for regional competition, but right now we are going to enjoy this win," Schulz said.

Hornets first, second at home — Valley Center proved to be ungracious hosts, finishing first and second at its own invitational April 25. Valley Center Purple scored 26 team points to finish first, while Valley Center Gold was second with 20 points.

Perhaps the most excitement for VC fans came at No. 1 doubles, where Valley's top two teams met in the finals. The Gold team, Berschauer and Colton Jones, came from behind to edge the Purple team, Herbst and Nathan Jones, by a score of 8-6.

In pool play, Berschauer and Jones eased by Conway Springs 8-3 and Maize 8-4 before pulling out an 8-7 (7-3) tiebreaker over Newton. Herbst and Jones had an easier time, shutting out Emporia, Pittsburg and Wichita Northwest by 8-0 scores.

At No. 1 singles, the Purple's Strunk won it all. He cruised 8-0 by both Zac White of Emporia and James Delp of Pittsburg, before beating Wichita Northwest's Andrew Minter 8-2. Strunk captured the title with another 8-2 win, this time over Newton's Adam Ford, in the finals.

The Gold's Wocher finished third. He defeated Kolton Alloway of Conway Springs 8-3 and Justin Marcotte of Maize 8-4 and lost 8-2 to Ford of Newton. Wocher bounced back with an 8-3 win over Minter of Northwest in the third-place match.

Alex Schul (Purple) got his first taste of varsity competition at No. 2 singles and finished second. He won his first two matches by identical 8-1 scores, first over teammate Tanner Gill, who was filling in for Emporia, and then over Pittsburg's Josh Lee. Schul earned a spot in the finals with an 8-3 win over Northwest's Alex Wiltse. Ethan Pfeifer of Maize won the championship with an 8-5 decision over Schul.

Josh Davis of the Gold finished fifth. He opened with an 8-2 win over Mathew Monsion of Conway Springs before losing 8-6 to both Pfeifer of Maize and Newton's Aaron Carillo. Davis rebounded with an 8-5 win over Gill in the fifth-place match.

Gill played well as a last minute fill-in for Emporia. In pool play, Gill lost 8-1 to Schul, 8-5 to Lee of Pittsburg and beat Wiltse of Northwest 8-1.

No. 2 doubles saw Purple's Caleb Jeffries and Brayden Moncivais win finish second. They downed Emporia 8-2, before blanking both Pittsburg and Northwest 8-0. In the finals, Conway Springs got the better of the Hornets with an 8-6 victory.

The Gold's entrant, Steven Binau and Tristen Schwarzenberger, finished fourth in their first varsity competition. They started slow, losing 8-6 to Conway Springs, before posting wins of 8-5 over Maize and 8-6 over Newton. Northwest defeated them 8-4 for third.

Second at South — The Salina South Invitational was a 16-team, bracketed tournament. That means both singles players for each of the eight teams were in the same bracket; ditto for doubles. In the end, Valley scored 50 points to finish second behind Manhattan's 57 points. Abilene was third with 47 points.

The top-seeded Strunk finished third in singles. He opened with a pair of 8-0 wins over Jonathan Dahlsten of Smoky Valley and Harrison Jett of Salina Central. He lost 8-3 to Easton of Manhattan in the semifinals. After that, Strunk bounced back to edge the No. 2 seed, Andover's Stephen Le, 9-7 (7-2) for third.

Valley's other singles player, Cole Klinkhammer, played two long matches at the start. He lost 8-5 to Manhattan's Bryan Ambrust before eking out an 8-7 (7-5) win over Will Hays of Salina Central. After that match, Klinkhammer began cramping and could not get into a rhythm. He lost 8-4 to Carson Harris of Salina South and 8-3 to Andrew McGinnis of Hays in the 11th-place match.

Doubles competition saw Valley's two entries battle it out for third place. Pulling out the victory were Herbst and Nathan Jones, 8-7 (7-2), over teammates Berschauer and Colton Jones.

Seeded third, Herbst and Jones advanced with wins of 8-0 over Hays and 8-5 over Smoky Valley. In the semifinals, they lost 8-2 to Manhattan, the second seed and eventual winner.

Berschauer and Jones upset fifth-seeded Manhattan 8-5 and fourth-seeded Andover 8-0. They lost in the semifinals 8-1 to Salina South.