Tennis team goes 2-1 in district matches, sends two to sectionals

The Cameron Boys Varsity Tennis team began to wrap up the 2016 season, with three district matches last week and an advance to the sectional match for one doubles team.  

The Dragons clutched a pair of victories in the first and second rounds, shutting down the Richmond Spartans with a 5-0 score on Monday, May 9, and the Excelsior Springs Tigers with a 5-1 score on Tuesday, May 10. The streak was broken the following Wednesday, when the Dragons fell 0-5 to the Chillicothe Hornets.

The individual district tournament was held on Saturday, May 14. All three of Cameron’s unseeded entries saw success in their first round matches. Junior Robert Bremer and Freshman Tyler Anderson fell, to the eventual champions from Chillicothe, in their second round doubles match, Senior Jared Meister was defeated by the Excelsior Springs singles champion, and Senior Andrew Pratt dropped a singles match to Trenton’s #2 seed.

Senior Gage Zeit and Junior David Curtis won both of their first two matches as a doubles teams, including a three-set win over Chillicothe's Bonderer/Evans #2 doubles team, to reach the finals. The duo was unable to find success versus Chillicothe’s McKiddy/Lamp doubles team in the finals, but secured their advancement to sectionals with their second place finish.

“We had a really good week of tennis during district week. We had a great bounce back win over Excelsior Springs after they beat us the week before.” Head Coach Richard Berry said. “To get Gage and David to sectionals was a great way to cap off the week.  The boys, as a team, had a great season given that we do not have a lot of experience top to bottom on our roster. They really played some of their best tennis at the end of the season and that's what matters most.  Hopefully we have another couple of weeks left with Gage and David.”

The sectionals match was played against the Maryville Spoofhounds on Tuesday, May 17 at the Noyes Tennis Courts in St. Joseph. The State Tournament will be played on May 27-28 in Springfield.