May 23, 2015
Dexter boys tennis team wins sectional against St. Mary's, drops quarterfinal to John Burroughs
One of the most successful boys tennis seasons in school history ended a win shy of the final four for the Dexter Bearcats Saturday afternoon. Dexter, which was attempting to advance to the final four for the first time in school history in boys tennis, suffered a 5-0 loss to John Burroughs in a Class 1 quarterfinal...
Note: A photo gallery of Saturday's action is available at this link: Playoff Tennis Photos
DEXTER, Mo. - One of the most successful boys tennis seasons in school history ended a win shy of the final four for the Dexter Bearcats Saturday afternoon.
Dexter, which was attempting to advance to the final four for the first time in school history in boys tennis, suffered a 5-0 loss to John Burroughs in a Class 1 quarterfinal.
"I knew John Burroughs was going to be good and they didn't even have their No. 1 player today," Dexter coach Kurt Lovelady said. "You can just tell the amount of tennis their boys play in the offseason. They have tremendous forehands, backhands and serves. We look forward to watching them at the final four this week."
John Burroughs' Mark Rodgers and Ben Remis won the No. 1 doubles match against Dexter's Ethan Flowers and Noah Kronk 8-0. John Burroughs' Zale Shah and Jason Chen won the No. 2 doubles match against Dexter's Zach Potts and Josh Kohlbaker 8-1. John Burroughs' Grant Riew and Ryan Thornton won the No. 3 doubles match against Dexter's Brooks Propst and Addison Moore 8-2.
In singles action, Shah beat Flowers 6-0, 6-0 and Remis beat Kohlbaker 6-0, 6-0.
John Burroughs advanced to play Dexter with a 5-0 sectional victory against Bishop DuBourg Saturday morning at Dexter High School. Dexter also won its sectional 5-0 against St. Mary's (10-5) on Saturday morning.
"St. Mary's was definitely one of the best teams we've seen this year," Lovelady said. "Their No. 1 doubles team was the same team we played in doubles sectionals. I knew they would be hungry and they gave Ethan and Noah all they could handle. All of our players hit the ball well and I'm a very proud coach today."
The closest doubles match featured Kronk and Flowers against St. Mary's Eric Clancy and Isaac Julius. Kronk-Flowers fell behind Clancy-Julius 5-2 before rallying for an 8-6 victory.
"Their footwork was a little sloppy early," Lovelady said. "We've got to keep it away from the net player. We've got to get that easy first shot at the net, and St. Mary's got it at times. We started placing the ball better and hitting it deeper as the match went on and were able to beat their No. 1 team again."
Potts-Kohlbaker and Propst-Moore jumped out to 3-0 leads in their respective doubles matches against St. Mary's. Potts-Kohlbaker beat St. Mary's Craig Polette-Kevin Carosello 8-3 in the No. 2 match and Propst-Moore beat Ian Comerford-Matt O'Neil 8-5 in the No. 3 doubles match.
"We don't drop off much after our No. 1 doubles," Lovelady said. "I think that is one of our strengths."
Potts beat Polette 6-1, 6-1 in the No. 3 singles match and Propst beat Comerford 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 5 singles match.
"Potts played probably the best singles match I've seen him play all year," Lovelady said. "He played smart and moved the ball around. He thinks two or three moves ahead and moves his opponent to where he wants them.
"Brooks' ground strokes looked great," Lovelady added. "He kept the ball deep against his opponent and played his game instead of his opponent's game, which was big."
Dexter finishes its season with a record of 11-1.
Kronk and Flowers continue tennis competition Friday in the individual doubles state tournament at Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield, Missouri. Kronk-Flowers advanced to the Round of 16 state tournament by beating Julius-Clancy 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in an individual doubles sectional Tuesday.
"I like their chances better this year than last year," Lovelady said of the duo's second straight trip to state in individual doubles. "Today, there were moments when they played well. Noah was hitting the ball better than I've seen him hit it the past two years in his singles matches today. Ethan also hit better in his first singles match than he has in the last two years. All-round they both hit the ball well and if they can click at the same time together they are a very very dangerous team. Hopefully, we got some first-year jitters out of the way at state last year. We know what to expect now. It's just a matter of us being on top of our game at the right time and clicking together."
Kronk and Propst played their final matches at the Dexter courts Saturday.
Noah Kronk will attend Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau next year and play college football.
Brooks Propst will attend Arkansas State University in Jonesboro next year and become a member of the marching band.
"I'm very proud of Noah and Brooks," Lovelady said. "Noah is going to go on and play football at SEMO. I'm glad he is going to keep using his athletic ability in a positive way.
"And Brooks is a super talented musician going to my alma mater A-State and using his musical ability by participating in the marching band," Lovelady continued. "That's what I like about these guys. They are more than just tennis players. They are football players and great musicians, and not just one-dimensional."
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Class 1 Boys Tennis Sectional: Dexter 5, St. Mary's 0
VARSITY SINGLES
No. 1 - Ethan Flowers (DX) vs. Eric Clancy (SM), retired
No. 2 - Noah Kronk (DX) vs. Isaac Julius (SM), retired
No. 3 - Zach Potts (DX) def. Craig Polette (SM) 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 - Josh Kohlbaker (DX) vs. Kevin Carosello (SM), retired
No. 5 - Brooks Propst (DX) def. Ian Comerford (SM) 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 - Addison Moore (DX) vs. Tim Kroger (SM), retired
VARSITY DOUBLES
No. 1 - Flowers-Kronk (DX) def. Clancy-Julius (SM) 8-6
No. 2 - Potts-Kohlbaker (DX) def. Polette-Carosello (SM) 8-3
No. 3 - Propst-Moore (DX) def. Matt O'Neil-Comerford (SM) 8-5
Class 1 Boys Tennis Quarterfinal: John Burroughs 5, Dexter 0
VARSITY SINGLES
No. 1 - Zale Shah (JB) def. Ethan Flowers (DX) 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 - Mark Rodgers (JB) vs. Noah Kronk (DX), retired
No. 3 - Grant Riew (JB) vs. Zach Potts (DX), retired
No. 4 - Ben Remis (JB) vs. Josh Kohlbaker (DX) 6-0, 6-0
No. 5 - Ryan Thornton (JB) vs. Brooks Propst (DX), retired
No. 6 - Jason Chen (JB) vs. Addison Moore (DX), retired
VARSITY DOUBLES
No. 1 - Rodgers-Remis (JB) def. Flowers-Kronk (DX) 8-0
No. 2 - Shah-Chen (JB) def. Potts-Kohlbaker (DX) 8-1
No. 3 - Riew-Thornton (JB) def. Moore-Propst (DX) 8-2
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