Brownsville nets shutout victory at Connellsville
Brownsvilles' Cameron Smith hits a forehand at the net to Connellsville's Jim Manges during a non-section match Thursday afternoon at Connellsville Area High School.
Connellsville's Jeff Medvec hits the ball near the baseline while playing Brownsvilles' Ryan Hartz during a non-section match Thursday afternoon at Connellsville Area High School.
John F. Brothers/HeraldStandard.com
Ryan Hartz, playing for Brownsville, returns a shot to Connellsville’s Jeff Medvec during Thursday’s non-section tennis match at Connellsville Area High School.
ConnellsvilleJim Manges hits the ball from behind the baseline during his game with Brownsville's Cameron Smith Thursday at Connellsville Area High School.
CONNELLSVILLE — Brownsville’s 5-0 boys tennis win over Connellsville on Thursday felt more like a one-point decision.
With the temperature feeling more like early summer, once Brownsville recorded its third point of the day, coaches Dan Lonigro, of Brownsville, and Bill Ricks, of Connellsville, agreed to complete the final two events of the non-section match using the tie-breaker system.
Freshman Ryan Hartz staked Brownsville to a 1-0 lead with a 6-1, 6-1 win at first singles over Connellsville’s Jeff Medvec.
Hartz is a student at Frazier High School, but plays for Brownsville since his home school has no tennis team.
“It’s nice to play in the heat because it gets you warmed up faster,” said Hartz, who added that his match with Medvec included “a lot of close points and rallies” and was closer than the final score.
Brownsville (2-2, 0-2) led 2-0 when Cameron Smith won 6-2, 6-2 over Jim Manges at second singles.
“I felt in control most of the time,” Smith said. “It was really hot but not humid, so it didn’t bother me. It was hard to see some of the serves because of the sun.”
The visitors actually clinched the match when Devan Drilak and Scott Gardner defeated Pat Hiles and Eric Trump 6-2, 6-4 in the first doubles match.
Gardner said the heat was a factor, “but you’ve got to deal with it,” while Drilak added, “we had to turn our game up” in the second set, “and there’s no looking back from there.”
The third singles match lasted nearly two hours and would have gone much longer without the tie breaking agreement. Connellsville’s Tyler McFadden won the first set 6-4 over Nic Calvaresi, but Calvaresi took the second set 6-4 and won the third set 8-6 using the tie-breaker.
Calvaresi said he never let himself feel completely in control of the match because “anything can happen.”
Despite the loss, McFadden said he was pleased with his effort, saying, “I played a great match. (Calvaresi) is good.”
Brownsville fell behind in the second doubles match when Connellsville’s Tim Zeigler and Tristan Kozel won 6-3 in the first set.
But Derek Lent and Nick Zelner rallied for victory by knotting the second set score at 6-6 and winning a 7-4 tie breaker, and a 7-5 tie breaker to decide the third set.
Ricks said his team has been making steady improvement throughout the week and entering today’s home section match against Norwin.
“Overall we look a lot better than we did on Monday. We’re improved by about 70 percent, matches are going longer and we’re more thorough. We’ve picked up our confidence.”
Lonigro said Hartz played well after losing his match on Wednesday, and Smith “is on cruise control. I’m glad we were able to clinch (the match) with number one doubles because Connellsville seemed to have some momentum.”