HIGH SCHOOL-OHIO

In CCD vs. GMC, both come out A-OK

Mark Schmetzer

It wasn’t Cincinnati Country Day against the world – just the Greater Miami Conference.

Specifically, the GMC’s green teams – green-and-white Mason and green-and-white Sycamore – in the three Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches Association “A” Flight singles finals.

Indians senior Patrick Wildman and freshman J.J. Wolf both prevailed in their matches, but CCD junior Asher Hirsch – the defending Division II state singles champion and Enquirer Division II Player of the Year – lost to Mason senior Luke Tsai 6-2, 7-6 (5) in the first singles championship match.

“They’re all veterans,” Indians coach Matt Detkas said. “J.J.’s only a freshman, but he’s played enough that he’s like a wily veteran.

“We expected them to do well.”

Wildman, who lost to Hirsch in last year’s state final and was the No. 1 seed in his flight, cruised past Sycamore junior Nakul Narandran, the No. 3 seed, 6-2, 6-4.

The top-seeded Wolf – the most recent product of the dynastic tennis clan that includes his sister, CCD junior Danielle, a Division II state semifinalist last fall – rolled over Mason junior and No. 2 seed Young-Jin Kang, 6-1, 6-0, in third singles.

Teams from Mason, ranked second in the Enquirer’s Division I coaches’ poll, and No. 1 Sycamore met in the two “A” Flight doubles finals and split to finish the annual event tied for the team championship.

The Comets, playing on their home courts in a wind from the west that grew stiffer throughout the day, earned the team title based on the first tiebreaker – Tsai’s win in the first singles final, according to Sycamore coach Mike Teets.

Tsai reached the finals with a win by default over Sycamore junior and No. 2 seed Deepak Indrakanti, who withdrew with a shoulder injury, Teets said.

Tsai, who lost to Seven Hills’ John Larkin, 6-1, 6-1, in the “A” Flight finals last year and went on to reach the Division I state quarterfinals and be named the Enquirer’s Division I Player of the Year, broke Hirsch in the third game of the first set with a feathery lob and followed up by holding serve with a deft drop shot.

Hirsch adjusted his strategy in the second set, forsaking a serve-and-volley approach in favor of trusting his ground strokes from the baseline.

Tsai still was able to force the tiebreaker, in which he fell behind 5-3 before connecting with a backhand drop volley on the first of four consecutive winning points.

He clinched the win on an anti-climactic Hirsch double fault.

“Asher Hirsch obviously is a great opponent,” Mason coach Linda Kirtley said.

“Luke was extremely focused today.”

Tsai admitted that, before this year, he might have lost the second set after falling behind.

“I might’ve let it go and not fought as hard,” he said. “I think, at the beginning of this season, I had a couple of tough losses, and it’s made me dig deeper. Those losses motivated me.

“I think, mentally, I’m tougher this year.”

Detkas believes Hirsch’s loss might pay off in the long run, especially with the sectional tournaments scheduled to start the week of May 12.

“He doesn’t lose a lot,” Detkas pointed out. “It keeps him hungry.

“The coaches’ tournament is great, but these guys are here to get better.” ⬛