Spartans win Heartland tennis title

BY RON POWELL / Lincoln Journal Star

October 1, 2006

FREMONT — The gold medals were spread among four different Lincoln schools in the Heartland Conference Boys Tennis Tournament Saturday at the Fremont High School Tennis Complex.

But it was Lincoln East that brought home the big prize — the team title in the eight-team event. The Spartans won their first conference team title since 1995 behind their No. 2 doubles combination of junior Garth Hamilton and sophomore Ross Schulenberg. They defeated Lincoln Southeast’s Ted Stuckey and Andrew Wiedman 8-3 in the finals.

Lincoln Southwest senior Taylor Boney helped solidify a high seed at the Class A State Tournament Oct. 12-13 by winning No. 1 singles.

The recently formed Lincoln Northeast duo of junior Nathan Hoppe and senior Michael Larsen showed it could be factor at state with its No. 1 doubles title, while Southeast sophomore Mitch Somach captured No. 2 singles.

“Today just shows how deep our conference is and that everyone has quality players,’’ East coach Jeff Hoham said.

The Spartans, who edged runner-up Southeast 41-39 for the title, got second-place finishes from their No. 1 doubles team of Andreas Zimmermann and Alex Neuhaus and No. 2 singles player Matt Dunlap and a third-place showing from Brandon Videtich at No. 1 singles. Hoham said the right-handed Dunlap played despite an injured left elbow, losing a tight 8-6 decision to Somach in the finals.

Videtich, another strong state contender at No. 1 singles, lost to Boney during pool play, then won by default over the injured Jamie Holmes of Grand Island for third place.

A 5-4 dual loss to Southeast on Wednesday provided motivation for the Spartans Saturday, according to their coach.

“We knew we had to raise our level of play,” Hoham said. “They worked hard in practice this week and were mentally ready to play today.”

Boney improved to 28-3 this fall by going 4-0 Saturday, defeating Southeast freshman Seth Garnett 8-5 in the finals. Garnett (13-5) went 3-0 in pool play, including an 8-3 win against Holmes.

Holmes, who beat Boney last Monday at the Omaha Westside Invitational, sprained his ankle Wednesday, according to Grand Island co-coach Scott Cowgill. Holmes did not play in Grand Island’s dual match against Southwest on Friday.

With his aggressive baseline game hitting on all cylinders, Boney raced to a 3-0 lead in the finals. Garnett cut the deficit to 6-5, only to see the Silver Hawk senior win the last two games.

“I tried to play smart tennis, picking the right time to go in (to the net) and closing out points when I had the opportunity,” Boney said. “I was a little up and down. That’s something I still need to work on, being more consistent and closing out matches.”

Hoppe and Larsen pulled out a 9-8 (7-5 in the tiebreaker) victory against the East No. 1 doubles team. Hoppe and Larsen are Northeast’s top two singles players, and they’ve played in various spots in the Rockets’ lineup this fall.

“It’s fun playing doubles with him (Larsen) because we’ve played together for years and years,’’ Hoppe said. “We could do really well if we play like we did today.’’