The Blue Springs boys tennis team earned a third place
finish in its own tournament Friday with 21 team points.
Lee’s Summit West won the tournament with 29 points.
Max Martell had the top finish for the Wildcats, going 2-1
and taking second place in the ‘B’ singles division. Tyler Casey won in the ‘A’
division for singles and placed third, also with a 2-1 record.
Casey’s jump up from No. 4 last year to the top spot has
been a work in progress, but Blue Springs head coach Jody McClain has liked his
improvement.
“Tyler has played a lot of tough matches at No. 1 all year,”
she said. “His mental game has gotten better. He’s willing to pay the price for
not just sitting out there and trying to hit the winning shot.”
Chad Stohlman and Ashton Rhodes continued their strong
season, taking third and going 2-1.
McClain has been preaching to the doubles teams all season
to be aggressive at the net, and she’s seen Stohlman and Rhodes take that to
heart.
“They played good teams from Barstow and Lee’s Summit West.
I was very happy with them,” she said. “From the first of the season to now,
they’ve changed quite a bit. They are serve and volleying more. Their net game
has improved tremendously.”
Dan Noud and Andy Anderson made up the doubles team in the
‘A’ division and took seventh, going 1-2.
Blue Springs will now prepare for Platte County Monday and
then its showdown with cross-town rival Blue Springs South Tuesday.
While the Wildcats can’t capture a conference title, McClain
knows it still means a lot.
“It’s still big for us,” she said. “If the boys play at the
top of their game we’ll be extremely competitive. There’s a lot of emotion. We
have to play the ball and not worry about the school or the person.”
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