Zink scores clincher as Zebras edge Wabash

Rochester’s all-seniors doubles teams lose 1 game in 4 sets

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Hunter Kamp Carter Merideth

Rochester freshman Camden Zink needed three match points before finally subduing Wabash’s Dylan Pence and scoring the clinching point as the Zebra boys tennis team edged the conference and sectional rival Apaches 3-2 at the RHS courts Wednesday.

Zink won at No. 3 singles 6-3, 7-6 (6).

Rochester also swept the doubles matches, dropping one game in four combined sets. Harrison Dunwoody and Ashton Musselman beat Karson McKenzie and T.J. Tracy 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles, and Hunter Kamp and Carter Merideth took down Carter Pegg and Reed Wiles 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 doubles.

Dunwoody, Musselman, Kamp and Merideth are all seniors.

Wade Bowers lost to Eli Mattern 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles, and Jackson Frounfelter lost to Cooper Long 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 singles.

Pence, a senior, led 5-3 in the second set and served for the set at 5-4 before Zink broke him. Pence broke back and served for the set again at 6-5 before Zink broke again to force a tiebreak.

Pence led the tiebreak 4-3 before hitting a backhand long and hitting a forehand into the net. When Zink somehow hit a lunging backhand an instant before it hit the ground to keep the rally going, Pence whiffed on his backhand return, and Zink had two match points at 6-4.

But Zink hit a forehand long to make it 6-5 and a backhand long to make it 6-6.

Pence got a second serve from Zink but netted his return to give Zink his third match point, and Pence committed another error long on his backhand to end it.

“I came up to him, and I talked to him, and I said to start approaching the net a little bit more and keep staying consistent,” Rochester first-year coach Kyle Reinartz said when asked how Zink was able to pull out the win. “Just keep competing. You’re right there with him. You’re doing everything right. … He came up to me, and he said, ‘Coach, what am I doing wrong with my serve?’, and I told him it looks like you’re falling forward a little bit. You’re falling forward before you’re hitting the ball. After that, that was really frustrating him. His serve was kind of beating him up.”

The doubles matches were far less dramatic. Dunwoody and Musselman lost to a team from Peru Sept. 4, but they lost only one game in wins over Manchester and Wabash in a 24-hour span.

Musselman is Dunwoody’s fifth doubles partner – Brady Morgan, Bowers, Merideth and Jake Freeman were the other four – of his career.

“I think Muss by far is the best server,” Dunwoody said when asked what makes Musselman unique. “The energy… he brings the hype. I’m not going to go on record and say he’s my favorite, but he’s probably my favorite one.”

Dunwoody said Musselman became his doubles partner after the coaches asked for his opinion. Reinartz noted that Dunwoody and Musselman play “with nothing to lose.”

Dunwoody might have more of a reputation for net play than Musselman, but Musselman also showed off sharp volleying skills Wednesday.

“That boy’s a dawg,” Dunwoody said. “He learns really quick. He was always a good singles player at net. He knew when to rush, so it transferred over to doubles pretty well.”

Rochester is 3-1 in the TRC. All four matches have come against the four teams that are also in their sectional.

“Honestly, it feels pretty good,” Reinartz said. “Speaking for myself, I’m pretty happy with where we’re at right now. I mean, there are some matches that I feel got away from us early that I wish we could get back, but where we’re at right now, I’m satisfied, and I know the kids are pretty happy with where we’re at.”

Results: Rochester 3, Wabash 2

Singles

Eli Mattern (WAB) def. Wade Bowers (RHS), 6-0, 6-0

Cooper Long (WAB) def. Jackson Frounfelter (RHS), 6-1, 6-0

Camden Zink (RHS) def. Dylan Pence (WAB), 6-3, 7-6 (6)

Doubles

Harrison Dunwoody-Ashton Musselman (RHS) def. Karson McKenzie-T.J. Tracy (WAB), 6-1, 6-0

Hunter Kamp-Carter Merideth (RHS) def. Carter Pegg-Reed Wiles (WAB), 6-0, 6-0