Tennis
Return bid starts well for Spartan
Two-time state qualifier Ben Roeser routed the competition, booking a spot at the district tournament.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Ben Roeser's quest to qualify for the Division II state tennis tournament for the third straight spring began in strong fashion Monday as the Waynesville High senior swept a pair of straight set wins to qualify for next week's district tournament.
Roeser will play in the sectional semifinals today at Princeton High School in attempt to win the tournament for the first time in his career.
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"Ben won the sectional last year in doubles with Dylan Schwerdtfeger, but he's never won it in singles," Spartan coach Dale Bowman said. "He's hungry. He wants it really bad."
Roeser wasn't the only Spartan to reach the final four at Monday's sectionals and earn an automatic district berth.
Cory Hopwood and Luke Schwerdtfeger teamed together as the No. 3 seed in the doubles bracket and picked up a pair of wins to reach the semifinals.
The sectional success came on the heels of a surprising league championships last week by the Spartans, their sixth straight Southwestern Buckeye League Buckeye Division title.
Waynesville entered the tourney trailing Carlisle, but had things break their way to claim the crown by a single point.
"Everything just happened to play into our favor," Bowman said. "We won matches we weren't supposed to and Carlisle lost some matches they should have won.
"As the day went on, our slim hope turned into confidence and Carlisle's confidence deteriorated."
Roeser won the first singles title, completing his four-year career at that spot without ever dropping a match in league play.
The Spartans also got a surprising and critical win from Hopwood at second singles. The Waynesville senior beat Mason Motley of Carlisle, who was undefeated on the season, in the finals in what proved to be the pivotal match of the tournament.
"A huge win," Bowman said. "We only won by one point, so we had to have all of them."
Adam Konen secured a critical point by battling through the backdraw to finish fifth at third singles, while Ben Chamberlain and Schwerdtfeger took second at first doubles and Dustin Riley and Kyle Knepper were runners-up at second doubles.
