For The Tribune
Wednesday’s tennis match between Trinity Lutheran and Oldenburg Academy came down to the No. 2 singles match, and when the point finished, the Twisters left the Cougars’ courts with a 3-2 victory.
Trinity sophomore Jace Crockett gave Oldenburg’s Patrick Thompson all he could handle before falling 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a match that lasted over two hours.
Crockett trailed 3-2 in the third set, then rallied to take a 4-3 lead but couldn’t come up with another point.
“Jace just ran out of gas a little bit in the third set,” Cougars coach Mark Voss said. “He couldn’t get any strength and stamina back. They were both tired. They both played a great match. It could have gone either way.”
Trinity’s points came from Matt Stuckwisch, with a 6-2, 6-1 win against Jacob Sheets at No. 3 singles, and Avery Schwipps and Noah Voelker, with a 6-3, 6-1 victory against Will Younger and Henry Meyer at No. 2 doubles.
“We played pretty well. No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles pretty much dominated their matches,” Voss said. “They got out to an early lead and held it. The second set got a little bit dicey at the start, but then they came on and finished it off just fine.
“I’m very happy with those outcomes. I’m very happy with all the boys. Bailey (Baker) at No. 1 singles played almost a carbon copy of him. (Michael Wansrath) was just a little bit harder player than Bailey was, but he played tough.”
Wansrath won 6-0, 6-1, and Max Giesting and Ethan Back defeated Cougars Pierce McCammon and Caleb Gruenwald 6-1, 6-3 at No. 1 doubles.
“That was our first time with that combination,” Voss said of playing McCammon and Gruenwald together. “I was happy with the way they played. They need to work on communication a little bit. We’ll get better at that as the year goes on.
“Overall, with the whole team I was very pleased with (ground strokes). We’ve worked very hard in the pre-season on that. Our serving can be a little bit better. Our groundstrokes we really good tonight. That’s what I hoped for.”
The Cougars will play in the Waldron Invite Saturday. Oldenburg and Knightstown are the other two teams in the tournament with matches beginning at 9 a.m.