Valley Tennis Team Has Easy Time With Triton
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
AKRON -ÊSo routine was Drew Shafer's Tuesday tennis match he afterward sought out teammate Phil Jackson to see if he wanted to practice because he "didn't get a chance to hit much" against his opponent.
On a mild, windy September afternoon, Tippecanoe Valley breezed past Triton 4-1, sweeping the singles matches. Valley's four wins all came in straight sets.
Shafer, a senior, beat junior Seth Bowers 6-2, 6-0 in the No. 1 singles match. Jackson, a junior, beat senior Bryan Wilcox 6-1, 6-0 in the No. 2 singles match. Junior Luke Shambaugh beat sophomore Josh Nifong 7-5, 6-2 in the No. 3 singles match.
Valley's other win came in the No.1 doubles match, where seniors Brian Love and Andy Martin topped juniors Matt Kraft and Matt Yankovich 6-0, 6-2. Love and Martin improved to 8-1.
The Vikings upped their record to 7-2, while Triton fell to 3-3. Valley last lost a dual match in its Aug. 15 opener against Bremen. The other loss came in an invitational.
A Triton team with two seniors had to win on Valley's home court against a veteran team with superior talent. And yes, home court does have an advantage.
"(Valley) is used to the wind here," Triton coach Laura Lamaster said. "There always seems to be wind here. It takes us awhile to adjust to it."
The Trojans could not pull off the upset.
Shafer, displaying nice groundstrokes that created heavy topspin, had his Triton opponent muttering to himself. Shafer, a three-sport athlete who competed in a national golf tournament that forced him to miss the first two matches of the season, upped his record to 5-1. Only one opponent has forced him to play three sets this year.
"Get the forehand in," Bowers said to himself after falling behind Shafer 1-0 in the second set. But more often than not, the forehands ended up smashed into the net or too deep.
The match against Triton went easier for Shafer than past matches. That's because Art Blackmer was on the sidelines. Blackmer, Triton's former No. 1 singles player, graduated last year and now serves as an assistant coach.
"Triton is usually pretty good," Shafer said. "I had always gone three sets against the guy (Art) I've played in the past. Today I just tried to keep the point short, because he couldn't seem to keep it in play."
Said Valley coach Rod Hamman: "Drew is starting to hit his stride the last couple of weeks. He's mentally tough. He's been No. 1 singles for three years, and he took his lumps his first year."
At No. 2 singles, Jackson was a backboard, running down and returning shots and matching Shafer's pace. They wrapped up their matches within minutes of each other. Jackson refuses to concede any shot, and his record indicates it: He improved to 7-0 as Valley's No. 2 singles player.
Several times Jackson had to run down balls and could only lob them back, but Wilcox couldn't always take advantage when seemingly easy shots were giftwrapped for him.
"Phil is a scrapper," Hamman said. "If the ball is in the court, he will go after it, no matter where it's hit at. He returns a lot of balls, but when he's in position, he places it well, too."
Shambaugh pulled off the biggest upset, knocking off Nifong in straight sets. Nifong entered with only one loss, while Shambaugh entered 5-3.
"I'm real pleased with Luke," Hamman said. "He came out stroking well, playing well. It was tight the first set, but then he got it going."
Triton's lone win came at No. 2 doubles, where senior Kent Roberts and junior Aaron Shafer outlasted sophomore Scott Kindig and freshman Zach Shambaugh 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
"We're not really rebuilding, because we lost only Art, but our team was so young last year," Lamaster said. "We're not real experienced players yet.
"We're hanging in there, waiting to see what we can do this season. Valley is pretty solid all the way down through their lineup."
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 4, TRITON 1
Singles
No. 1 - Drew Shafer (TV) def. Seth Bowers 6-2, 6-0
No. 2 -ÊPhil Jackson (TV) def. Bryan Wilcox 6-1, 6-0
No. 3 -ÊLuke Shambaugh (TV) def. Josh Nifong 7-5, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 - Brian Love/Andy Martin (TV) def. Matt Kraft/Matt Yankovich 6-0, 6-2
No. 2 - Kent Roberts/Aaron Shafer (TRI) def. Scott Kindig/Zach Shambaugh 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
Varsity records - Tippecanoe Valley 7-2, Triton 3-3
JV: TIPPECANOE VALLEY 5, TRITON 0
Singles
No. 1 -ÊSam Vanlaningham (TV) def. Kevin Boyer 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 -ÊStuart Jackson (TV) def. Mark Smith 8-1
No. 3 -ÊBrad Roberts (TV) won by forfeit
Doubles
No. 1 -ÊKyle Kamp/Brett Kollin (TV) def. Wes Jeffers/Corey Ellinger 8-3
No. 2 -ÊJosh Johnson/Jason Harrold (TV) won by forfeit
JV records -ÊTippecanoe Valley 4-1, Triton N/A [[In-content Ad]]
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AKRON -ÊSo routine was Drew Shafer's Tuesday tennis match he afterward sought out teammate Phil Jackson to see if he wanted to practice because he "didn't get a chance to hit much" against his opponent.
On a mild, windy September afternoon, Tippecanoe Valley breezed past Triton 4-1, sweeping the singles matches. Valley's four wins all came in straight sets.
Shafer, a senior, beat junior Seth Bowers 6-2, 6-0 in the No. 1 singles match. Jackson, a junior, beat senior Bryan Wilcox 6-1, 6-0 in the No. 2 singles match. Junior Luke Shambaugh beat sophomore Josh Nifong 7-5, 6-2 in the No. 3 singles match.
Valley's other win came in the No.1 doubles match, where seniors Brian Love and Andy Martin topped juniors Matt Kraft and Matt Yankovich 6-0, 6-2. Love and Martin improved to 8-1.
The Vikings upped their record to 7-2, while Triton fell to 3-3. Valley last lost a dual match in its Aug. 15 opener against Bremen. The other loss came in an invitational.
A Triton team with two seniors had to win on Valley's home court against a veteran team with superior talent. And yes, home court does have an advantage.
"(Valley) is used to the wind here," Triton coach Laura Lamaster said. "There always seems to be wind here. It takes us awhile to adjust to it."
The Trojans could not pull off the upset.
Shafer, displaying nice groundstrokes that created heavy topspin, had his Triton opponent muttering to himself. Shafer, a three-sport athlete who competed in a national golf tournament that forced him to miss the first two matches of the season, upped his record to 5-1. Only one opponent has forced him to play three sets this year.
"Get the forehand in," Bowers said to himself after falling behind Shafer 1-0 in the second set. But more often than not, the forehands ended up smashed into the net or too deep.
The match against Triton went easier for Shafer than past matches. That's because Art Blackmer was on the sidelines. Blackmer, Triton's former No. 1 singles player, graduated last year and now serves as an assistant coach.
"Triton is usually pretty good," Shafer said. "I had always gone three sets against the guy (Art) I've played in the past. Today I just tried to keep the point short, because he couldn't seem to keep it in play."
Said Valley coach Rod Hamman: "Drew is starting to hit his stride the last couple of weeks. He's mentally tough. He's been No. 1 singles for three years, and he took his lumps his first year."
At No. 2 singles, Jackson was a backboard, running down and returning shots and matching Shafer's pace. They wrapped up their matches within minutes of each other. Jackson refuses to concede any shot, and his record indicates it: He improved to 7-0 as Valley's No. 2 singles player.
Several times Jackson had to run down balls and could only lob them back, but Wilcox couldn't always take advantage when seemingly easy shots were giftwrapped for him.
"Phil is a scrapper," Hamman said. "If the ball is in the court, he will go after it, no matter where it's hit at. He returns a lot of balls, but when he's in position, he places it well, too."
Shambaugh pulled off the biggest upset, knocking off Nifong in straight sets. Nifong entered with only one loss, while Shambaugh entered 5-3.
"I'm real pleased with Luke," Hamman said. "He came out stroking well, playing well. It was tight the first set, but then he got it going."
Triton's lone win came at No. 2 doubles, where senior Kent Roberts and junior Aaron Shafer outlasted sophomore Scott Kindig and freshman Zach Shambaugh 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
"We're not really rebuilding, because we lost only Art, but our team was so young last year," Lamaster said. "We're not real experienced players yet.
"We're hanging in there, waiting to see what we can do this season. Valley is pretty solid all the way down through their lineup."
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 4, TRITON 1
Singles
No. 1 - Drew Shafer (TV) def. Seth Bowers 6-2, 6-0
No. 2 -ÊPhil Jackson (TV) def. Bryan Wilcox 6-1, 6-0
No. 3 -ÊLuke Shambaugh (TV) def. Josh Nifong 7-5, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 - Brian Love/Andy Martin (TV) def. Matt Kraft/Matt Yankovich 6-0, 6-2
No. 2 - Kent Roberts/Aaron Shafer (TRI) def. Scott Kindig/Zach Shambaugh 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
Varsity records - Tippecanoe Valley 7-2, Triton 3-3
JV: TIPPECANOE VALLEY 5, TRITON 0
Singles
No. 1 -ÊSam Vanlaningham (TV) def. Kevin Boyer 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 -ÊStuart Jackson (TV) def. Mark Smith 8-1
No. 3 -ÊBrad Roberts (TV) won by forfeit
Doubles
No. 1 -ÊKyle Kamp/Brett Kollin (TV) def. Wes Jeffers/Corey Ellinger 8-3
No. 2 -ÊJosh Johnson/Jason Harrold (TV) won by forfeit
JV records -ÊTippecanoe Valley 4-1, Triton N/A [[In-content Ad]]