By Dana Harding
Springfield, MO – Springfield Catholic tennis rode a 6-0 match record heading into Wednesday’s Springfield Invitational Tournament at Cooper Tennis Complex.
Even more impressive, the Fightin’ Irish hadn’t lost a single match during the stretch.
It was only fitting, then, to see Catholic’s Jason Nayar and Luke Steiner end up in the final four.
Nayar finished runner-up to Tulsa Jenks’ Scott Hjelm (8-0), while Steiner lost a nail-biting tie-breaker to Kickapoo’s Garrett Howard in the consolation (9-8, 9-7).
CLICK HERE FOR SPRINGFIELD INVITATIONAL PHOTOS
While both fell in their final singles matches of the afternoon, you won’t find much disappointment from head coach Justin Fravel.
Catholic is young, hungry and loaded.
“Definitely happy to get two of my singles guys that high up,” Fravel said. “It was a tough loss for Jason there at the end, Jenks is such a strong team, but he had a good day fishing second overall.”
Nayar, who finished 6th in the state tournament last season as a sophomore, advanced to the final following a marathon 8-6 victory over Howard in the semis.
Against Hjelm, he quickly discovered what Steiner had an hour earlier … there’s not much room for error against a player of that caliber. Both fell 8-0 to the Jenks senior.
The tall and lanky Hjelm rolled through the bracket with a dominant service game and a punishing forehand, losing only a single game in five total matches.
While disappointed, Nayar relished the opportunity to battle through the final.
“Honestly, those are the matches I love the best,” Nayar said. “I get the most out of it because we don’t see those players every day. They just have huge serves, huge strokes and they can get it in, which is something you don’t see a lot around here.”
In doubles competition, Nixa’s Briggs Boyd and Caleb Case became the first Eagles to medal at the competition with a third-place victory. The duo downed Jenks No. 2 team in the consolation match 8-4.
