Leibreich competes at Division II state tennis tournament

COLUMBUS — Hillsboro junior Reese Leibreich made history for Hillsboro High School Friday morning, as he became the first tennis player in the school's storied sports history to compete in the Division II State Tennis Tournament, but the junior fell in straight sets at the outdoor varsity tennis counts on the campus of The Ohio State University.

Leibreich fell to Lexington junior Jake Youse on Court 4.

Leibreich lost in the first round in straight sets at 6-0, 6-1, but in the process of not only the state tournament, but his entire season, he raised the expectations for the Hillsboro tennis program ... as HHS tennis head coach LaRue Turner said earlier in the week, "Reese put Hillsboro tennis on the map."

"Reese is disappointed, but being his first time up here in the state tournament, he now knows what he must do to not only get back here next year, but to compete at this level consistently," Turner said. "He'll work even harder next year and practice more. I'm proud he won one game, because the kid he was playing was very good.

"Reese's season was outstanding, he just ran into a buzz saw (Friday)."

In the game Leibreich won, in the second set, the junior gained the lead after the first two serves. The second game of set two got a little closer as it went to 30-15, 40-15 and then 40-30.

Eventually the score went to deuce (40-40), and Leibreich took the advantage as the two players battled close to the net, with Leibreich hitting the ball with force on an overhead slam.

Leibreich completed the second game (second set) victory as Youse hit the ball out of play.

The remaining of the match belonged to the Lexington junior as he took advantage of miscues, whether it was double faults on serves or hitting the ball out of play, sometimes just inches off the mark.

In the end, Leibreich finished his junior season at the top level in the state, which Turner spoke about his first singles player's overall season.

"Reese played in an awful lot of matches this year. He was the best in the SCOL and no doubt had a great season," Turner said. "All good things must come to an end.

"Again, Reese knows what he has to do in the offseason to improve his game, and I'm sure he'll continue to improve his game this summer."

Leibreich ended the regular season at 19-1, and in the postseason was district runner-up and sectional runner-up with an overall record of 24-3.

Other results for the first round included:

• Max Kan (11, Pepper Pike Orange) defeated Logan Henize (11, Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy) 6-0, 6-0.

• Joel Montgomery (10, Worthington Christian) defeated Andrew Linden (12, Sandusky St. Mary Central Catholic) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

• Asher Hirsch (9, Cincinnati County Day) defeated Jad Abdul-Aai (11, Warren John F. Kennedy) 6-4, 6-1.

• Jake Youse (11, Lexington) defeated Reese Leibreich (11, Hillsboro) 6-0, 6-1.

• Mason Dragos (9, Lexington) defeated Dhruv Yadav (10, Gates Mills Hawken) 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).

• Matt Wareti (12, Bexley) defeated John Larkin (11, Cincinnati Seven Hills) 6-3, 6-3.

• Matt Brumbaugh (9, West Union Milton-Union) defeated Aaron Ruby (11, Cambridge) 6-2, 7-5.

• Patrick Wildman (10, Cincinnati County Day) defeated Billy Lennon (12, Hunting Valley University School) 6-0, 7-6 (7-2).