Leibreich, Rhoads win; HHS tennis team falls to East Clinton
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — Though the young Hillsboro boys tennis team didn't gain the overall team win Tuesday against East Clinton, they did see improvement, along with singles wins from Reese Leibreich and Alex Rhoads.
The match, at Hillsboro High School, was a quick day for Leibreich, as the junior lost just one game in two sets, dominating the match from start to finish in first singles at 6-0, 6-1.
"Reese is playing well right now, and I'm expecting big things from him this season," HHS head coach LaRue Turner said. "He's practiced hard, he's in-tune with tennis, and it shows on the court."
In the first set, the junior outlasted East Clinton opponent Cory Williams, a senior, by a 6-1 score. In the first set, the closest Leibreich came to losing a game was in the fifth game, as he trailed 40-0, but he eventually rallied back to make it a deuce situation. Again, Williams took the advantage, but the HHS junior rallied for the game win by forcing a second deuce situation and took the game by keeping the ball just in play.
In the first set, Leibreich used a variety of power hits, timely placed shots and taking advantage of out-of-play hits to sweep the set at 6-0.
The second match was a little tougher for the junior, but he swept the first game and took the first game with force by scoring the final two points with consecutive aces.
His second game was a bit closer, as Leibreich led 30-0 at one point, then Williams tied it at 40-all, but again, Leibreich took the advantage and the game for a 2-0 lead in the second set.
The one game Leibreich lost was the third game in the second set as Williams trailed 30-0 at one point but kept his composure, tied the game at 30, forced a deuce scenario and took the advantage and the game win as the ball sailed out of play.
Leibreich led 2-1 headed into the fourth game and from there on didn't lose another game in the set or match, but the fourth game in the set didn't come easy.
In the fourth game, Leibreich led 30-0, but Williams tied it at 30-30. Leibreich sent the ball in the opposite direction of his opponent to take a 40-30 lead, but again, Williams wouldn't let the win come easy for the HHS junior as the EC senior made it 40-40. Leibreich took the advantage and used a power shot to seal the win and take a 3-1 second set advantage.
The fifth game of the second set, Leibreich won in straight points, but the final two games were hard-fought, as both games went to 40-30 scores before Leibreich sealed the win.
After his first two matches of the season, Leibreich is 2-0 as he won against Unioto on Monday by scores of 6-1, 6-2.
As for the second HHS win on Tuesday, Rhoads and East Clinton junior Grant Joy battled from the start of the match, which was around 4:30 p.m. to just over two hours later, with Rhoads winning by scores of 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 6-4 in third singles.
"Alex played doubles last year, and we have a young team, but he's showing so much improvement each time he takes the court," Turner said. "He's right behind Reese in terms of his play."
The rest of the HHS results included HHS sophomore Patrick Shanahan falling in two sets to East Clinton's Wes Henson 1-6, 4-6 in second singles.
"Patrick is playing his first year of singles, and I see the improvement from him," Turner said. "Right now, we are shifting players from second and third singles to see where they play the best. He's doing well, and I didn't think that when we started practice he wanted to play singles, but he did and he's doing well."
In the doubles matches, HHS senior Christian Gunderman and sophomore Ryan Palmer lost in two sets 0-6, 1-6 to Mitch Manicho and Garrett Knisley of EC.
In second doubles, HHS junior Brendan Eltzroth and freshman Michael Gunderman fell in two sets to Dylan Sanfrey and Gunnar Goodman (EC) by scores of 3-6, 2-6.
On Monday vs. UHS, HHS had wins from Leibreich (6-1, 6-2), Shanahan 6-1, 7-5 in first and third singles. In doubles, Christian Gunderman and Palmer won 6-3, 6-1 and Eltzroth and Michael Gunderman won 6-3, 7-5.
HHS is scheduled to play road games in their next three events, at Bethel Tate (March 28), Chillicothe (March 29) and Wheelersburg (March 30). They will return home on Monday, April 2 when they host Portsmouth Notre Dame.[[In-content Ad]]
The match, at Hillsboro High School, was a quick day for Leibreich, as the junior lost just one game in two sets, dominating the match from start to finish in first singles at 6-0, 6-1.
"Reese is playing well right now, and I'm expecting big things from him this season," HHS head coach LaRue Turner said. "He's practiced hard, he's in-tune with tennis, and it shows on the court."
In the first set, the junior outlasted East Clinton opponent Cory Williams, a senior, by a 6-1 score. In the first set, the closest Leibreich came to losing a game was in the fifth game, as he trailed 40-0, but he eventually rallied back to make it a deuce situation. Again, Williams took the advantage, but the HHS junior rallied for the game win by forcing a second deuce situation and took the game by keeping the ball just in play.
In the first set, Leibreich used a variety of power hits, timely placed shots and taking advantage of out-of-play hits to sweep the set at 6-0.
The second match was a little tougher for the junior, but he swept the first game and took the first game with force by scoring the final two points with consecutive aces.
His second game was a bit closer, as Leibreich led 30-0 at one point, then Williams tied it at 40-all, but again, Leibreich took the advantage and the game for a 2-0 lead in the second set.
The one game Leibreich lost was the third game in the second set as Williams trailed 30-0 at one point but kept his composure, tied the game at 30, forced a deuce scenario and took the advantage and the game win as the ball sailed out of play.
Leibreich led 2-1 headed into the fourth game and from there on didn't lose another game in the set or match, but the fourth game in the set didn't come easy.
In the fourth game, Leibreich led 30-0, but Williams tied it at 30-30. Leibreich sent the ball in the opposite direction of his opponent to take a 40-30 lead, but again, Williams wouldn't let the win come easy for the HHS junior as the EC senior made it 40-40. Leibreich took the advantage and used a power shot to seal the win and take a 3-1 second set advantage.
The fifth game of the second set, Leibreich won in straight points, but the final two games were hard-fought, as both games went to 40-30 scores before Leibreich sealed the win.
After his first two matches of the season, Leibreich is 2-0 as he won against Unioto on Monday by scores of 6-1, 6-2.
As for the second HHS win on Tuesday, Rhoads and East Clinton junior Grant Joy battled from the start of the match, which was around 4:30 p.m. to just over two hours later, with Rhoads winning by scores of 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 6-4 in third singles.
"Alex played doubles last year, and we have a young team, but he's showing so much improvement each time he takes the court," Turner said. "He's right behind Reese in terms of his play."
The rest of the HHS results included HHS sophomore Patrick Shanahan falling in two sets to East Clinton's Wes Henson 1-6, 4-6 in second singles.
"Patrick is playing his first year of singles, and I see the improvement from him," Turner said. "Right now, we are shifting players from second and third singles to see where they play the best. He's doing well, and I didn't think that when we started practice he wanted to play singles, but he did and he's doing well."
In the doubles matches, HHS senior Christian Gunderman and sophomore Ryan Palmer lost in two sets 0-6, 1-6 to Mitch Manicho and Garrett Knisley of EC.
In second doubles, HHS junior Brendan Eltzroth and freshman Michael Gunderman fell in two sets to Dylan Sanfrey and Gunnar Goodman (EC) by scores of 3-6, 2-6.
On Monday vs. UHS, HHS had wins from Leibreich (6-1, 6-2), Shanahan 6-1, 7-5 in first and third singles. In doubles, Christian Gunderman and Palmer won 6-3, 6-1 and Eltzroth and Michael Gunderman won 6-3, 7-5.
HHS is scheduled to play road games in their next three events, at Bethel Tate (March 28), Chillicothe (March 29) and Wheelersburg (March 30). They will return home on Monday, April 2 when they host Portsmouth Notre Dame.[[In-content Ad]]