Triton Tennis Team Wins Again
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Following a 5-0 victory against the Whitko Wildcats, the Triton Trojans now sit at 6-1 on the season, while the hosts are still searching for win No. 1, falling to 0-5.[[In-content Ad]]"Triton's a good team," Whitko coach Erik Hisner said. "I thought we competed pretty well until we got into positions where we needed a big point or a big game. We weren't able to close out a couple sets there, and those were big swing matches."
Examples of the failure to close out matches came at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles.
On the singles court, Whitko's Josh Larocque had Triton's Josh Gephart down 5-2 in the opening set, but surrendered the set 7-5, before losing the second set 6-1.
In the last match of the night, Whitko's Grant St. Clair and Alex Winger bounced back from a 6-1 opening-set loss to take a 5-2 lead in the second. However, Triton's Bryant Davenport and Darius Stevens rallied to take the next five games, winning 7-5.
Triton coach Allen Peckham credited some inspirational index cards he hands his players prior to each year for the comeback wins.
"I gave them very good examples of comebacks," Peckham said. "Even if you're down, there's a way of coming back up. The only way of doing it is taking it one step at a time. Don't look at the big picture. Set mini-goals."
With the win, Davenport and Stevens remain undefeated on the season, with their sights set on a conference title.
"Last year in our conference, they struggled a little bit," Peckham said of his No. 1 doubles tandem. "But I told them they were juniors playing against seniors. Pretty much every No. 1 doubles team in our conference graduated out this year. So, I'm hoping they can sweep the conference, and I think they can do it."
Peckham also has high hopes for his No. 1 singles player, Ben Montalbano, who won 6-0, 6-1.
As a junior last season, Montalbano won a Northern State Conference title at No. 2 singles, and things are going well this year, as he sits at 7-0 at No. 1 singles.
"You just never know how far he can go," Peckham said of Montalbano.
And the Triton coach can see him only getting better.
"If he gets his first serve in, it's pretty deadly," Peckham said. "It's 50/50 right now, so hopefully we can improve on that."
Triton's other wins came from Jeff Ross at No. 3 singles (6-1, 6-2) and the No. 2 doubles team of Josh Shafer and Kreig Voreis (6-1, 7-5).
With the win, Triton has matched its start from last season, but after jumping out to a 6-1 start a year ago, Triton fell to Bethany Christian, Bremen, John Glenn and Jimtown.
"We had a struggle at the end (of last year), but this is the second time we've been 6-1," Peckham said. "I'm just hoping it will end better this year.
"Right now, our next goal is our conference," he added.
While Triton's next goal is conference, Whitko's goal is still to get that first win under its belt.
"Our schedule has been pretty tough, but we've been getting better with each match," Hisner said. "We're improving, we're just not closing out sets and matches."
Triton hosts Bethany Christian Saturday at 4:30 p.m., while Whitko's next match is Tuesday at Rochester.
TRITON 5, WHITKO 0
(Singles)
No. 1 - Ben Montalbano (T) def. Kurt Boggs 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 - Josh Gephart (T) def. Josh Larocque 7-5, 6-1
No. 3 - Jeff Ross (T) def. Anthony Habermann 6-1, 6-2
(Doubles)
No. 1 - Bryant Davenport/Darius Stevens (T) def. Grant St. Clair/Alex Winger 6-1, 7-5
No. 2 - Josh Shafer/Kreig Voreis (T) def. Tyler Noragon/Nathan Sherrard 6-1, 7-5
Records: Triton 6-1, Whitko 0-5
JV - Triton 4, Whitko 0
(Singles)
No. 1 - Jackson Downing (T) def. Riley Cokl 8-3
No. 2 - Jordan Everett (T) def. Tyler Murphy 8-2
No. 3 - Austin Davis (T) def. Tom Danner 8-2
(Doubles)
No. 1 - Wil Rettinger/Pete Kauffman (T) def. Urian Bailey/Tyler Pottenger 8-1
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Following a 5-0 victory against the Whitko Wildcats, the Triton Trojans now sit at 6-1 on the season, while the hosts are still searching for win No. 1, falling to 0-5.[[In-content Ad]]"Triton's a good team," Whitko coach Erik Hisner said. "I thought we competed pretty well until we got into positions where we needed a big point or a big game. We weren't able to close out a couple sets there, and those were big swing matches."
Examples of the failure to close out matches came at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles.
On the singles court, Whitko's Josh Larocque had Triton's Josh Gephart down 5-2 in the opening set, but surrendered the set 7-5, before losing the second set 6-1.
In the last match of the night, Whitko's Grant St. Clair and Alex Winger bounced back from a 6-1 opening-set loss to take a 5-2 lead in the second. However, Triton's Bryant Davenport and Darius Stevens rallied to take the next five games, winning 7-5.
Triton coach Allen Peckham credited some inspirational index cards he hands his players prior to each year for the comeback wins.
"I gave them very good examples of comebacks," Peckham said. "Even if you're down, there's a way of coming back up. The only way of doing it is taking it one step at a time. Don't look at the big picture. Set mini-goals."
With the win, Davenport and Stevens remain undefeated on the season, with their sights set on a conference title.
"Last year in our conference, they struggled a little bit," Peckham said of his No. 1 doubles tandem. "But I told them they were juniors playing against seniors. Pretty much every No. 1 doubles team in our conference graduated out this year. So, I'm hoping they can sweep the conference, and I think they can do it."
Peckham also has high hopes for his No. 1 singles player, Ben Montalbano, who won 6-0, 6-1.
As a junior last season, Montalbano won a Northern State Conference title at No. 2 singles, and things are going well this year, as he sits at 7-0 at No. 1 singles.
"You just never know how far he can go," Peckham said of Montalbano.
And the Triton coach can see him only getting better.
"If he gets his first serve in, it's pretty deadly," Peckham said. "It's 50/50 right now, so hopefully we can improve on that."
Triton's other wins came from Jeff Ross at No. 3 singles (6-1, 6-2) and the No. 2 doubles team of Josh Shafer and Kreig Voreis (6-1, 7-5).
With the win, Triton has matched its start from last season, but after jumping out to a 6-1 start a year ago, Triton fell to Bethany Christian, Bremen, John Glenn and Jimtown.
"We had a struggle at the end (of last year), but this is the second time we've been 6-1," Peckham said. "I'm just hoping it will end better this year.
"Right now, our next goal is our conference," he added.
While Triton's next goal is conference, Whitko's goal is still to get that first win under its belt.
"Our schedule has been pretty tough, but we've been getting better with each match," Hisner said. "We're improving, we're just not closing out sets and matches."
Triton hosts Bethany Christian Saturday at 4:30 p.m., while Whitko's next match is Tuesday at Rochester.
TRITON 5, WHITKO 0
(Singles)
No. 1 - Ben Montalbano (T) def. Kurt Boggs 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 - Josh Gephart (T) def. Josh Larocque 7-5, 6-1
No. 3 - Jeff Ross (T) def. Anthony Habermann 6-1, 6-2
(Doubles)
No. 1 - Bryant Davenport/Darius Stevens (T) def. Grant St. Clair/Alex Winger 6-1, 7-5
No. 2 - Josh Shafer/Kreig Voreis (T) def. Tyler Noragon/Nathan Sherrard 6-1, 7-5
Records: Triton 6-1, Whitko 0-5
JV - Triton 4, Whitko 0
(Singles)
No. 1 - Jackson Downing (T) def. Riley Cokl 8-3
No. 2 - Jordan Everett (T) def. Tyler Murphy 8-2
No. 3 - Austin Davis (T) def. Tom Danner 8-2
(Doubles)
No. 1 - Wil Rettinger/Pete Kauffman (T) def. Urian Bailey/Tyler Pottenger 8-1
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