Written by Senior Benjamin Chanes about yesterday’s tennis match against Catholic High.
On a chilly Wednesday afternoon, the Brother Martin tennis team competed against Catholic High at Chateau Country Club. Under the leadership of first-year coach Lee MacAlester Jr., the team faced the 2017 LHSAA state champions in a friendly dual. Playing with a college match format (3 doubles followed by 6 singles), both teams eagerly awaited for the start of the match.
Starting with the doubles, Catholic High earned the first point with an 8-0 victory at line 3 over Brother Martin’s Sterling Heindel ‘20 and Evan Walker ‘21. But, the Crusaders bounced back quickly to level the dual 1-1 after Ben Chanes ‘18 and Matthew Armbruster ‘21 won with a convincing 8-3 victory at line 1. After tying the overall score at 1-1, all attention moved towards the final doubles match at line 2 consisting of Hunter Kael ‘19 and Jack Robinson ‘21. Down a break at 5-6, Catholic High fought back and stole an 8-6 victory to take a 2-1 overall lead over the Crusaders.
Disappointed, yet focused, the Crusaders readied to fight back and beat the Bears in singles play. But, the Bears came out extremely motivated as they won line 6 singles against Jack Robinson, 8-3, and line 5 singles against Hunter Kael, 8-4. Now, Catholic High had a commanding 4-1 lead over Brother Martin with a comeback almost impossible to achieve. But, the Crusaders are the men who never say die! It was time for the comeback to begin.
In line 1 singles, Matthew Armbruster did not hold back. After rallying and hitting some incredible shots, Matthew beat his opponent 8-3 to bring the overall score to 2-4, still in Catholic High’s favor. Soon after, Ethan Bosch ‘20 battled his opponent every shot, playing several rallies that exceeded 15 or more shots. He earned a well deserved 8-6 victory at line 4 singles. The score is now 3-4, with Catholic High still over Brother Martin. Moving to line 3 singles, Chris Russo ‘18 fought tremendously to get an 8-5 victory over his opponent, ultimately tying the overall score 4-4 with one match still to be decided.
Playing the final match for the Crusaders at line 2 singles was senior, Ben Chanes. After starting extremely shaky down 3-1, Ben fought back to earn a 7-3 lead over his opponent. Down several match points, Catholic High found a way to fight back and level the match at 7 games all. Serving at 7-7, Ben was broken, which gave Catholic High an 8-7 lead and an opportunity to serve for the match. But, Ben was not done yet. He fought back to break Catholic High leveling the match at 8 games all. Now, the match would conclude in a 7 point tie-breaker. Down 2-3 in the tie-breaker, Ben fought back and won 4 consecutive points to get a 6-3 lead. Now, Ben would have 3 consecutive match points, needing to win just 1 to clinch the match and the overall victory for Brother Martin. But, Catholic High would not give up. Catholic High would serve 2 aces to cut Ben’s lead to 6-5. Serving at 6-5, Ben fought hard and won the point winning the match 9-8 (7-5 in the tie-breaker) and clinching the overall victory 5-4 for Brother Martin!
The Brother Martin tennis team would like to thank all who came out and supported the team. The crowd provided incredible support as the Crusaders rallied back from 1-4 to win the dual match 5-4. The next match for the undefeated, 5-0, Crusader tennis team will be on March 16th vs. Mobile at Chateau Country Club for 4:00 pm. Please come out and support the team!
– Benjamin Chanes ’18
Click for Season Schedule Click for Season Results
Pictures provided by junior Michael Armbruster.
Tennis v. Catholic High
