July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Wellman, Alberson save JCHS (08/15/07)
JCHS boys tennis
By By RAY COONEY-
MARION - Chase Wellman and Mark Alberson had all the Patriot colors covered - blue shorts, white shirts and red ... hair.
The pair of redheads - affectionately being referred to as "Team Red" by the rest of the Jay County boys tennis team - bailed out their mates Tuesday. They rallied from a set down in the deciding No. 2 doubles match to lift the Patriots to a 3-2 victory over the host Marion Giants.
"That was fun," said JCHS coach Barry Weaver after Alberson and Wellman, who was in his first competitive match, brought home the victory. "That's good that he gets that experience, but we really shouldn't have been in that position. ... We really kind of shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times. ...
"It was nice for those guys getting a win. That will help down the road, we hope."
The No. 2 doubles players were left on the court alone to decide the match in the third set after Jay County and the Giants split the other four matches. Josh Ludy and Kyle Simmons took the No. 1 and 3 singles matches for the Patriots while Marion won at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles.
"Team Red" had dropped a first-set tiebreaker and trailed 5-2 in the second set before taking consecutive do-or-die games to even the score. The Marion duo of Zac Lyons and Andrew Schoer had another chance to put the match away after pushing ahead 6-5, but Alberson and Wellman survived again for a second tiebreaker.
The rest of the match was all Patriots.
An unforced error from the Giants gave Jay County the first point of the tiebreaker, and Alberson followed with an overhead winner. Several more unforced errors gave JCHS the victory in shutout fashion, forcing a third set.
"When they came off between sets, all I wanted to do was say 'Let's be positive the first three or four games (of the third set),'" said Weaver. "That's not brilliance by any stretch. But it was just a matter of keeping your eye on where you're headed and being positive going forward. And they had done some real good things in the tiebreaker and we wanted to build on that ..."
Build they did, taking the first four games - the last thanks to a couple of key winners from Wellman - of the third and deciding set. Marion pulled back into the match by capturing the next three games, but it was not enough.
The Patriot duo went up 5-3 and finished off their match and the team victory with another overhead slam from Alberson that Marion could catch up to.
"We had some momentum from the second set that we won," said Alberson. "We just worked with that."
"The comeback in the second set really pushed us into the third set," added Wellman, admitting that being in the deciding match in his first competition was "pretty nerve-wracking."
Ludy gave the Patriots their first win of the evening in a tight battle with the Giants' Alex Hornett.
The senior dropped the first game of the match before bouncing back to win the first set, including the final game at love, by a 6-4 tally. He trailed again 5-4 in the second set, but like Alberson and Wellman, forced a tiebreaker.
Hornett and Ludy traded the first six points of the extra session, but Ludy took the rest for a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) win.
"Josh Ludy in the tiebreaker came on after being down 5-4," said Weaver. "That really was a spark.
"I think all the things he's done, not only in tennis, but in baseball ... he's never been short on confidence, but now he is assured that (he's worthy of) that confidence. He's earned the right to feel, 'Even if I'm behind, I can still come back.'"
Kyle Simmons played a grind-it-out match at No. 3 singles, managing to avoid a first-set tiebreaker and finish off Tripp Gorman 7-5, 6-3.
Both Ludy and Simmons posted 14-7 season in 2006.
"Kyle Simmons, I don't think he would call that his most stellar performance," said Weaver, "but he just played well enough to get the job done."
Phil Powell struggled after dominating the opening set 6-1 at No. 2 singles.
He fell behind 5-0 in the second set, then won four straight games before Nick Fauser of the Giants was able to finish him off and force a third. Powell had early 1-0 and 2-1 leads in the third set only to fall behind 5-2 as he lost 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Heath Rigby and Thomas McCowan had similar struggles throughout their No. 1 doubles match against Michael Barldridge and Nivan Chowattume. They dug themselves a hole with a shutout loss in the opening set and dropped their season opener 6-0, 6-4.[[In-content Ad]]
The pair of redheads - affectionately being referred to as "Team Red" by the rest of the Jay County boys tennis team - bailed out their mates Tuesday. They rallied from a set down in the deciding No. 2 doubles match to lift the Patriots to a 3-2 victory over the host Marion Giants.
"That was fun," said JCHS coach Barry Weaver after Alberson and Wellman, who was in his first competitive match, brought home the victory. "That's good that he gets that experience, but we really shouldn't have been in that position. ... We really kind of shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times. ...
"It was nice for those guys getting a win. That will help down the road, we hope."
The No. 2 doubles players were left on the court alone to decide the match in the third set after Jay County and the Giants split the other four matches. Josh Ludy and Kyle Simmons took the No. 1 and 3 singles matches for the Patriots while Marion won at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles.
"Team Red" had dropped a first-set tiebreaker and trailed 5-2 in the second set before taking consecutive do-or-die games to even the score. The Marion duo of Zac Lyons and Andrew Schoer had another chance to put the match away after pushing ahead 6-5, but Alberson and Wellman survived again for a second tiebreaker.
The rest of the match was all Patriots.
An unforced error from the Giants gave Jay County the first point of the tiebreaker, and Alberson followed with an overhead winner. Several more unforced errors gave JCHS the victory in shutout fashion, forcing a third set.
"When they came off between sets, all I wanted to do was say 'Let's be positive the first three or four games (of the third set),'" said Weaver. "That's not brilliance by any stretch. But it was just a matter of keeping your eye on where you're headed and being positive going forward. And they had done some real good things in the tiebreaker and we wanted to build on that ..."
Build they did, taking the first four games - the last thanks to a couple of key winners from Wellman - of the third and deciding set. Marion pulled back into the match by capturing the next three games, but it was not enough.
The Patriot duo went up 5-3 and finished off their match and the team victory with another overhead slam from Alberson that Marion could catch up to.
"We had some momentum from the second set that we won," said Alberson. "We just worked with that."
"The comeback in the second set really pushed us into the third set," added Wellman, admitting that being in the deciding match in his first competition was "pretty nerve-wracking."
Ludy gave the Patriots their first win of the evening in a tight battle with the Giants' Alex Hornett.
The senior dropped the first game of the match before bouncing back to win the first set, including the final game at love, by a 6-4 tally. He trailed again 5-4 in the second set, but like Alberson and Wellman, forced a tiebreaker.
Hornett and Ludy traded the first six points of the extra session, but Ludy took the rest for a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) win.
"Josh Ludy in the tiebreaker came on after being down 5-4," said Weaver. "That really was a spark.
"I think all the things he's done, not only in tennis, but in baseball ... he's never been short on confidence, but now he is assured that (he's worthy of) that confidence. He's earned the right to feel, 'Even if I'm behind, I can still come back.'"
Kyle Simmons played a grind-it-out match at No. 3 singles, managing to avoid a first-set tiebreaker and finish off Tripp Gorman 7-5, 6-3.
Both Ludy and Simmons posted 14-7 season in 2006.
"Kyle Simmons, I don't think he would call that his most stellar performance," said Weaver, "but he just played well enough to get the job done."
Phil Powell struggled after dominating the opening set 6-1 at No. 2 singles.
He fell behind 5-0 in the second set, then won four straight games before Nick Fauser of the Giants was able to finish him off and force a third. Powell had early 1-0 and 2-1 leads in the third set only to fall behind 5-2 as he lost 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Heath Rigby and Thomas McCowan had similar struggles throughout their No. 1 doubles match against Michael Barldridge and Nivan Chowattume. They dug themselves a hole with a shutout loss in the opening set and dropped their season opener 6-0, 6-4.[[In-content Ad]]
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