Zebra boys tennis falls to Northwestern in rare Friday match

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

This was a rare Friday sporting event in the fall that was not held at night.

While festive homecoming activities were taking place across the parking lot and the players had to play through fire truck sirens distracting their concentration, the Rochester boys tennis team lost to visiting Northwestern 5-0 Friday.

The match was the final home match of the year for Rochester, who finished the regular season with a road match against Whitko Saturday.

Sectionals start Tuesday at Peru.

Camden Zink, Griffin Newton and Luke Gottschalk lost at singles. Logan Fuller and Jesse Smith lost at No. 1 doubles, and Cash Casper and Ayden Smith lost at No. 2 doubles.

All five matches went straight sets. Rochester won nine games total in 10 sets.

Northwestern has four seniors in their varsity lineup; Rochester has one.

“They’re definitely up there,” Rochester coach Kyle Reinartz said when asked to compare Northwestern to other teams the Zebras have faced. “They’re definitely senior-heavy and definitely one of our tougher matches, right? I believe they beat Peru 3-2 in the regular season, and we lost to Peru 0-5. It’s just one of those things where they’ve got more experience, and we’ve got three guys on the varsity roster that have never played tennis before.”

Reinartz was asked if it was a good thing to play such a good opponent four days before the start of the postseason.

“I don’t want these boys beating themselves up by any means,” Reinartz said. “But I also believe that we could be facing Wabash (or) Peru, and both of those teams are up there in our sectional. They’re tough teams, right? I believe in us playing Northwestern towards the end is a good thing.”

Asked to name players who have shown improvement recently, Reinartz names Newton and Gottschalk. Both players started the year at doubles but moved to singles. Newton is a freshman, and Gottschalk is a sophomore.

“Earlier this week, we talked about rather than playing passive, let’s play a little bit more aggressive,” Reinartz said. “Let’s try to hit those winning shots. Let’s try to move our opponents rather than learn the fundamentals. I think they’re onto that next step where it’s like, ‘OK, I know how to hit a good forehand. Let’s see if I can hit a good forehand where they’re not going to get it, right? Or an aggressive forehand.’ So I’m really happy with the way Griff and Luke both have been playing and played today.”

The match was originally scheduled for Wednesday but postponed 48 hours due to rain.

RESULTS: NORTHWESTERN 5, ROCHESTER 0

Singles

Connor Gaier (NW) def. Camden Zink (RHS), 6-0, 6-2

Cameron Bennett (NW) def. Griffin Newton (RHS), 6-0, 6-1

Mason Jordan (NW) def. Luke Gottschalk (RHS), 6-0, 6-0

Doubles

Kade Dill-Adam Lesko (NW) def. Logan Fuller-Jesse Smith (RHS), 6-1, 6-2

Jarrden Fogg-Jaylen White (NW) def. Cash Casper-Ayden Smith (RHS), 6-1, 6-2