Doubles team gives East tennis team a boost

BY RON POWELL / Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, Sep 28, 2007 - 11:29:40 pm CDT

Two months ago, Lincoln East seniors Garth Hamilton and David Meagher barely knew each other.

By the end of September, they’ve become one of the top No. 2 doubles teams in the state and an important cog in the Spartans’ run for a Class A state tennis championship in two weeks.

Hamilton and Meagher improved their record to 27-0 with three wins in the Heartland Conference tournament Friday at Woods Tennis Center. They defeated Lincoln Southwest’s Christian Sanderfer and Alec Lowery 6-3, 6-1 in the finals, moving closer to a probable No. 1 seed at state.

That’s pretty impressive since the 6-foot-7 Hamilton is known more for his basketball prowess as the Spartans’ starting center in the winter and Meagher is playing tennis for the first time since his freshman year. Meagher played No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles in 2004 for Lincoln Pius X, then transferred to East and hung up his rackets for almost three years.

“I played too much when I was younger and got burned out on it,” Meagher said, explaining why he didn’t play tennis as a sophomore or junior. “I thought I was done with it until this summer, when my buddies got me out and I started having fun with it again.’’

Other than sharing a lunch period together at one time or passing in the hallways, Hamilton and Meagher had little in common until East coach Jeff Hoham put them together at No. 2 doubles. For Hamilton, a state runner-up last season at No. 2 doubles with Ross Schulenberg, Meagher ended up being the perfect addition to the team.

“I knew we had a lot of good talent coming back and I was just fighting for a spot in the lineup,” Hamilton said. “Adding David just made us even better.’’

While Hamilton and Meagher outsize and overpower most of the No. 2 doubles teams they play, they’re not taking anything for granted at the state tournament Oct. 11-12. They like the challenge of being the favored, undefeated team.

“It’s more motivation to go out and prove ourselves every match,” Hamilton said. “People want to beat us, so we have to focus on the next match and the next point.”

The Spartans kept their unbeaten string going this season, defending their conference title by getting all four entrants into the finals. East racked up 30 points, easily outdistancing second-place Lincoln Southeast with 211⁄2.

“I’m proud of our team’s depth,’’ said Hoham, whose team is 9-0 in duals and has won all five tournaments it has played this season. “The team goal all season has been to push our conditioning to where we can get everyone in the finals, regardless of the tournament format. It was another great team effort.’’

Senior Brandon Videtich won No. 1 singles, improving to 27-4 by defeating Erik Hakansson, a Swedish foreign exchange student at Grand Island, 6-3, 6-4 in the finals. Videtich overcame a 3-0 deficit in the first set and a 3-1 hole in the second.

“He plays a clay-court style that makes you stay out there and grind,” Videtich said of Hakansson. “You have to be authoritative, get into the net and put the ball away. It was good for me to play a match like this.’’

Southeast won the other two divisions. The recently formed duo of Seth Garnett and Seth Shimerda defeated the Spartans’ Schulenberg and Alex Neuhaus 6-4, 6-0 in the No. 1 doubles final. Freshman Grant Tesmer moved his record to 21-0 with a 6-0, 6-3 triumph against East’s Matt Dunlap in the No. 2 singles final.

Garnett, a sophomore, had been the Knights’ No. 1 singles player until last week. Coach Tim Tidball made the switch to take some pressure off Garnett and form what could be a formidable doubles team at state.

“This played out the way I hoped it would,” Tidball said. “Seth (Garnett) played really well from start to finish, and that allowed Seth Shimerda to relax and play his game.”