Staff writer
Two singles players from the Hillsboro tennis team competed in the Central Kansas League Monday at Sterling.
Coach Stuart Holmes said after much work on their part leading up to league, Leo Sontag placed third in No. 1 singles and Ty Carey placed sixth in No. 2 singles.
“Leo started the tourney as the No. 6 seed and was able to defeat the No. 3 seed with some outstanding play,” Holmes said. “Especially important was how Leo kept his composure after losing the second set which allowed him to play some great tennis again and win the third set super tiebreaker 10-6.”
Sontag continued to play well against his next opponent but was just outmatched, Holmes said.
To place third, Sontag competed against an opponent he had lost to earlier in the year.
“He was able to dominate the match and win two sets 6-0,” Holmes said. “Leo has worked through a fair amount of shoulder discomfort mid-season and now his improvement through hard work and making some adjustments in his game are paying off.”
Carey also improved before league to play the best tennis of his career, Holmes said.
“He was literally a couple of points from defeating the player from Pratt that ended up placing third in a first round match that lasted two hours and featured many long rallies along with a number of multiple deuce games,” Holmes said.
Carey won the first set 6-4, lost the second 6-3, and lost the tiebreaker 10-8.
River Cecil and Josh Funk played well in doubles, Holmes said, but it was not enough to earn them a win.
The team, minus Funk because of a choir trip, will play at regionals Saturday.
Sontag places in Hesston
Sontag continued doing well for Hillsboro tennis, placing 10th out of 24 players April 30 in Hesston.
“Each week he seems to be better at making the adjustments necessary to play competitively in the wind,” Holmes said.
Sontag finished the day’s play 3-2.
Due to another school activity conflict, Cecil was unable to play in Hesston.
“Hesston was nice enough to allow Josh Funk to play singles,” Holmes said.
He ended the day 0-4, and Carey went 1-3.
“All the guys continued to improve and played some good tennis throughout the day,” Holmes said.