Frounfelter rallies in 2nd set, finishes off Rochester sweep of N. Judson

Val T.
Sep 3
3 min read

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Carter Merideth Jesse Smith

Rochester’s Jackson Frounfelter injected some power to his match against North Judson’s Peyton Harris Tuesday, and what seemed like a battle of moon balls turned around in Frounfelter’s favor and capped off a Zebra sweep.

Rochester won 5-0 thanks to singles wins from Wade Bowers at No. 1, Frounfelter at No. 2 and Camden Zink at No. 3 and doubles wins from the No. 1 team of Harrison Dunwoody and Ashton Musselman and the No. 2 team of Carter Merideth and Jesse Smith.

Rochester lost only six games total at No. 1 singles, No. 3 singles, No. 1 doubles and No. 2 doubles.

Frounfelter often lured Harris to the net with short drop shots to try to set him up for lobs over his head.

But Harris stayed steady, often keeping the ball in play. Frounfelter won the first set 6-4, but Harris jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set.

At that point Frounfelter started hitting the ball flatter and ending points sooner. He won the last six games.

“Just putting more power into it and not playing it directly at him,” Frounfelter said. “(Harris was) putting backspin on it, just like how I do. You should play it at someone, and that’s where changing it up came in – just putting it opposite where he was at.”

Frounfelter was asked if he expected to be No. 2 singles at the start of the year.

“Not really,” Frounfelter said. “I was expecting maybe doubles or something like that, but I feel like I play better singles-wise. I’m enjoying it pretty well. The first set, I kind of struggled with it, but then once you just get into the game, you feel a lot better about it, getting more into the groove.”

Rochester first-year coach Kyle Reinartz said there was also a change in mental approach from Frounfelter.

Frounfelter, a junior; Smith, a sophomore; and Zink, a freshman, are all getting their first tastes of varsity experience. Bowers, Dunwoody, Musselman and Merideth are seniors.

“I think Jackson realized that he can play better when he’s not beating himself up,” Reinartz said. “Jackson, just like all the younger guys we have on our team, the potential that they have is unlimited. It’s the mental game that … everyone struggles with. And I went up to Jackson, and I said, ‘Hey, man, you’re doing well. You’re not making stupid errors. You’re doing well. You’re keeping the ball in play, and you're putting it away when it needs to be put away. Sometimes, the kid’s hitting good shots on you.’ But I thought he did very well today, especially coming back.”

As for Bowers, Reinartz praised him for his serve in his 6-1, 6-1 win over Levi Minix. Meanwhile, Minix struggled with his serve in big points, including a double fault on the last two points of the first set.

“Wade’s already got himself an excellent serve, but today it was very consistent,” Reinartz said. “I think that’s what put him up top today.”

Meanwhile, Reinartz has also seemingly put together strong doubles teams.

“Those are our top two seniors at one doubles, and then we have a senior at two doubles and a sophomore that’s pretty knowledgeable on doubles, so they’re exceeding expectations,” Reinartz said.

Rochester also won the JV match 3-0.

Results: Rochester 5, North Judson 0

Singles

Wade Bowers (RHS) def. Levi Minix (NJSP), 6-1, 6-1

Jackson Frounfelter (RHS) def. Peyton Harris (NJSP), 6-4, 6-3

Camden Zink (RHS) def. Rily Kolosa (NJSP), 6-0, 6-1

Doubles

Harrison Dunwoody-Ashton Musselman (RHS) def. Andrew Chambers-Aiden Selmer (NJSP), 6-0, 6-0

Carter Merideth-Jesse Smith (RHS) def. Orrin Ball-Bradley Irzyk (NJSP), 6-0, 6-3

JV results: Rochester 3, North Judson 0

Singles

Hunter Kamp (RHS) won 8-0.