Wabash High School

Wabash Varsity Tennis Goes 2-0 at the Jay County Duels Taking the long and scenic drive to beautiful Jay County High School, Wabash Tennis made the trip worth it by going 2-0 on the day and playing solid tennis at each position. In this duel format meet, Wabash took a 3-2 win over host Jay County and then followed up that win with a 5-0 win over South Adams. Mixing up the line up for match one, Wabash took advantage of the versatility of our top 4 players to allow individual players to work on specific skills to help them play stronger this 2nd half of the season. This change lead to a tight match all around, but also showed our depth and ability to handle adversity as a match progresses. Playing number 1 against Jay County was Wabash's senior Alex Dinkins. Dinkins ran into a buzz saw of a player, Abraham Dirksen, also a senior and lost 1-6, 2-6. Alex played very well, struggling to make the switch from 1 doubles to a singles match. Mattern shared, "Honestly this was a great match for Alex. Clearly he is not happy with the result, but playing 1 singles helps him expand his skills set to hit with pace and improve his movement within a match. Alex has the skills set to play anywhere, Dirksen was able to force Alex to play out longer points, and then sneak into the net behind a strong forehand to dictate the points of the match." At 2 singles, Eli Mattern continued to play well, winning a very competitive match of another Eli, Eli Dirksen of Jay County 7-5, 6-4. Eli started slow in both sets, then found his groove to run off a string of games to win each set. Using his all around game, Eli was able to exploit his opponents weakness to get to the net then put away the points with authority. Cooper Long played very well at 3 singles winning easily 6-2, 6-4 in a very well played match. "Cooper is a solid player, he can play both singles and doubles. His ground strokes are on point and he is continuing to improve in putting away shots at the net. As with Alex, playing singles gave Cooper a chance to work on movement within a point and covering open spaces with good footwork.' Coach Mattern Grant Ford and Troy Guenin-Hodson teamed up at one doubles to win 6-3, 6-1. Ford and Guenin-Hodson made for a capable duo with Ford's strong serve and net play and Guenin-Hodson's ability to chase down shots anywhere on the court. Spencer Stout and Ashton Coffman struggled a bit at 2 doubles losing 0-6, 2-6. Both have shown growth in their game. At times they played with an aggressiveness needed to win in doubles, an area for them to improve upon to take that next step. Match 2 on the day, Wabash came out with a 5-0 win over South Adams. First off the court for Wabash was Eli Mattern with an impressive win 6-0, 6-0. Coach Mattern shared; "This was easily one of the best, if not the best, matches of Eli's career. Playing to his strengths of power and getting to the net to finish points, Eli kept his opponent on his heals each point. We would like to see Eli continue to play with such aggressiveness and focus each match. If he is able to do so, he will be very difficult to beat." Next off the court was our 1 doubles combo of Alex Dinkins and Cooper Long. Cruising to a 6-1, 6-2 victory, Dinkins and Long were playing in sync and aggressively. Both players serves extremely well, allowing them to follow up those serves with strong finishing shots at the net. Service returns were also well played, putting South Adams on the defensive from the get go. Troy Guenin-Hodson won in straight sets at 3 singles with a score of 6-0, 6-0. Playing with a mix of placement and pace, Troy moved through each point with a plan of attack that was very successful. 2 doubles (Ashton Coffman and TJ Fritter) picked up a highly contested win 7-5, 7-5. "It was great to see Ashton and TJ stay in the match and find the means to win a tight one. Strategically they did a nice job keeping South Adams back and TJ was able to sneak in and get some easy points at the net. It was a fun match for both teams, we are happy to be on the winning side." Coach Mattern shared. Rounding out the day, Grant Ford played a very heady match at 1 singles, winning 6-4, 6-2. Using the first couple games to determine a plan of attack, Ford then executed that plan to perfection and pulled out what turned out to be a very good and effective win. Wabash has a busy week this week, playing Monday (Senior Night), Wednesday and Thursday. Go Apaches.