By Scott Vanscoy (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Republic Tigers hosted the Nixa Eagles on the tennis courts on Thursday afternoon. It was a blustery day, with wind gusts up to 40 mph at times, something both teams were forced to make adjustments for. Republic came out on top, 6-3.
The Tigers got off to a good start by winning two of the first three doubles sets. The winning doubles combinations were Isaac Jordan & Brett Carpenter (8-6), and Logan Elder & Will Berry (8-4). The lone Nixa doubles win was by Tanner Powley & Benjamin Boyd (8-6).
“We were fortunate to get ahead 2-1 and that kind of carried momentum into singles,” said Republic coach Dan Vales. “Conditions were super difficult, really windy, and so that made it tough for both sides but both sides battled through and we had lots of close matches. We are just fortunate to come out on top in a couple of these close ones tonight.”
After the three doubles matches were completed, Republic held a 2-1 lead heading into the singles contests. There was no letup in the wind and some players struggled.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
“The wind definitely played a huge factor,” said Nixa senior Tanner Powley. “Any time the wind is like that, the ball kind of hangs up in the air and it will drift one way or the other and it is hard to adapt to.”
The match of the night was between Republic senior Dylan Mackey and Nixa freshman Garrett Robertson. The match went into a 7-point tie break, with Mackey coming out on top, 7-1.
“It was kind of a ladder match, where it was just going up and up and up,” said Mackey. “It was usually him above me but then I ended up scoring two on one set and ended up passing him. Even though he’s a freshman, it seemed like he’s played before, so I don’t know if being a senior gave me that much of an advantage. My serve definitely was not working well tonight, but my forehand and slices seemed to be working; I would always bring them up and then lob them. The wind played a factor, there were a lot of shots, both ways, where it should have been in but ended up blowing out, or the opposite.”
In a matchup between the two number ones, Powley defeated Hunter Creek, 8-6. Creek, who trailed much of the match, made a comeback but just couldn’t pull it off.
“It makes me feel pretty good, especially because it was pretty windy out here so there was a lot of frustration,” said Powley. “Personally, I have to work on not getting frustrated, making sure I’m always there mentally, and then also making sure that I’m not making mistakes.”
Nixa coach Slade Snowden knew his squad was in for a difficult afternoon and the windy conditions would only make things more difficult for his young Eagles.
“Republic is always competitive, I knew it was going to be a good one,” said Snowden. “We were playing up two guys due to other school events; six played up to five, and seven played up to six. We didn’t have our full squad but in my opinion it shouldn’t matter. Those guys that played up, they are good enough to be in those spots and I still think they could have won those matches, but that’s not why we didn’t win.”
Republic’s senior-laden squad came through in the end. Vales was proud of the way his seniors stepped up.
“It was a great match; we knew coming in that Nixa was going to be tough, they’ve had some really strong scores against common opponents, like Branson,” said Vales. “We have five seniors in our starting lineup, that’s the most we’ve ever had in our starters and that’s definitely to our advantage in some of these close battles. They don’t get rattled maybe as easily as someone that is a little bit newer at it. That’s to our advantage this season, for sure. Boys’ tennis is like a 4 week sprint; you just have 3 or 4 matches every week and it is a complete grind to the finish line. We’ll be ready to go, come Districts.”
Overall score: Republic 6 – Nixa 3
Singles scores:
1. Tanner Powley (N) d. Hunter Creek (R) 8-6
2. Dylan Mackey (R) d. Garrett Robertson (N) 9-8 (7-1)
3. Todd Jones (N) d. Isaac Jordan (R) 9-8 (8-6)
4. Brett Carpenter (R) d. Benjamin Boyd (N) 8-6
5. Logan Elder (R) d. Tanner Barnes (N) 8-4
6. Austin Massey (R) d. Garrett Jarvis (N) 8-4
Doubles scores:
1. Tanner Powley / Benjamin Boyd (N) d. Hunter Creek / Dylan Mackey (R) 8-6
2. Isaac Jordan / Brett Carpenter (R) d. Garrett Robertson / Todd Jones (N) 8-6
3. Logan Elder / Will Berry (R) d. Tanner Barnes / Garrett Jarvis (N) 8-4
