PORTSMOUTH — After a two-day delay in starting because of inclement weather, the Blue Lions traveled to Portsmouth for Sectional Tennis action on Wednesday, May 8.
Participating for the Blue Lions were Blake Bagheri, Mason Mullins and Nick Walker in singles, and the teams of Jon Rader and Nathan Upthegrove and Logan and Landon Miller in doubles.
Play was slightly delayed on both the Portsmouth High School courts for doubles and Shawnee State courts for singles because of an early morning deluge. Players and coaches from all teams helped dry the courts so the start was only delayed by 30 minutes.
Singles featured 55 players vying for the eight coveted District slots.
Nick Walker started play, by defeating Brody Conley of Portsmouth, 6-0, 6-1 in the opening round.
Walker then had the unenviable task of facing the No. 1 overall seed, Landon Smith from Jackson.
Walker put up a valiant fight, going to deuce a couple of games, but was quickly dispatched by Smith’s overall superior game, 6-0, 6-0. This ended a successful year for Walker where he showed marked improvement in his game, noted coach Brian Ream, and finished the year with an overall record of 7-7 with matches in third singles, first and second doubles.
Mason Mullins, after a couple of hours waiting for an open court, began play in the opening round against Silas Walter-Wilde of Athens.
Jokingly before starting Mullins said, “I hope it’s not a three-hour match like my first-round match last year.”
The match was only slightly over two hours as he prevailed in three sets featuring a third set tiebreak, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (5).
In the second round, Mullins faced Mason Wolfe of Logan Elm.
In the battle of the Masons, Mullins triumphed 6-1, 6-2. After the required 40-minute rest, Mullins took the court against Cyrill Palaganas of Marietta.
After dropping the first set, 4-6, Mullins stormed back in the second set winning 6-3. In the pivotal third set, Mullins quickly fell two breaks of service down to trail 1-4. Storming back again, he evened the set at four all, and had a break point to go up 5-4.
Unable to convert, he dropped the ninth game, and then was broken to drop the match 4-6, 6-3, 4-6.
“The consistency of the play by both players was extraordinary and it was sad someone had to lose,” Ream said. “While not making Districts, Mason ends an outstanding year with an overall record of 11-4 with all his league play at second singles.”
While Mullins was still playing, Blake Bagheri took the court against his first-round opponent, Avery Lowery of Wheelersburg.
“While Ms. Lowery exhibited excellent serves and ground strokes, she could not overcome Blake’s overall power, and Blake prevailed 6-1, 6-1,” Ream said.
“In the second round, Blake faced another excellent female player, Maggie Wilson of Logan Elm,” Ream said.
Bagheri won that match, 6-1, 6-2.
In the third round, and the portal to Districts, Bagheri faced Justin Darnell of Circleville.
“Justin started out hot, winning the first game of the match, but Blake again overpowered, winning 6-1, 6-1,” Ream said. “While Blake still has more matches to play, his current overall record stands at 10-5 for the year, all of this at the challenging first singles position.”
In doubles 38 teams were vying for the eight Sectional positions.
Most teams had first round byes, but the Blue Lion pair of Upthegrove and Rader played a first-round match against Maynard and Boyer from Sciotoville.
“The Lions started their tourney hot, winning, 6-2, 6-1,” Ream said. “Their hot play continued into the second-round where they faced Bell and Grobowski from Portsmouth West, again prevailing, 6-2, 6-1.”
In their District entry match against Cochran and Gray from Valley, they fell behind in the first set but came back to even the set at six all and prevailed in the tiebreak.
In the second set they sprinted to a 5-2 lead which was squandered, but they righted their play at five all winning the next two games to take the set, 7-5.
“Jon and Nate will continue their play on Friday and in the Districts next week but they end their season with overall records of 9-5 for Nate and 7-8 for Jon,” Ream said.
Both players played third singles and 1st doubles throughout the season.
The Miller brothers, Logan and Landon, had a first round bye, but took the court inspired to capture their second-round match against Young and Feeman from Glenwood in straight sets.
After a quick respite, they took the courts against the strong doubles pair from Circleville of Vasquez and Seimetz who triumphed in straight sets.
Landon ends the season with an overall record of 5-8 while Logan ends his year 5-6.
“Both players specialized in doubles play,” Ream said. “One of the keys to (our) strong finish in the FAC (Frontier Athletic Conference) was the improved performance of our doubles play this year where Logan and Landon were key contributors.”
The Blue Lion trio of Blake, Jon and Nathan return to Portsmouth Friday to complete the Sectional tournament that will determine seeding for the District tournament to be held in Athens, Wednesday, May 15.
