Author: Mason Young

The boys tennis team started their individual regional tournament campaigns on Monday, with the Rebels sending out two singles players and two doubles teams in hopes of qualifying for the state tournament. If a team/player makes the semifinals, they qualify for the state tournament.

Starting with doubles, Caleb Sutton and Jacob King, the number four overall seeds, received a bye and then won a quick match, 6-1 6-0 against a tandem from Casey County. Ethan Drake and Bryar Bentley lost a close match in the first round, 5-7 6(1)-7.

In singles, Mason Young and Sean Guiney both won their first round matches 6-0 6-0. Young, the number five overall seed, headed into the next round to play against one of Somerset Christian’s singles players. Young won 6-1 7-5 after a thrilling second set. Sean Guiney upset the number two overall seed from West Jessamine in a third set super tiebreaker, 6-1 0-6 10-7. This was one of the best endings to a match so far during this tournament.

Young commented on the achievements of the team saying he was, “Glad to have three teams/players moving on to the quarterfinals! The goal is still the state tournament.”

In the quarterfinals on Thursday, Sutton/King will take on Wayne County’s top doubles team. Sean Guiney will take on Danville’s top singles player, while Mason Young will take on the number four overall seed from Pulaski County.

 

On Tuesday, the Boyle County boys tennis team headed down to Southwestern High School to take on the McCreary Central Raiders. This is a 12th region matchup, and is a good time to get ready for the end of the regular season. Coach Tao Costello decided to make some changes for this match, with a different lineup than usual.

The Rebels almost completed a clean sweep. In singles, Sean Guiney won 6-0, Briar Bentley won 6-0, and eighth grader Cooper Jackson also won 6-0. The Rebels didn’t drop a single game in singles.

Doubles action showed more of the same. At number one doubles, Ethan Drake and Desmond Rapp won 6-0, while Alosha McSweyn and Lance Slone dropped the only game of the night, still bringing in the win 6-1.

The Rebels come off of this win with some confidence, heading into their match on Wednesday against the Mercer County Titans.

On Thursday, the boys tennis team headed to Hopkins Elementary School to take on the Somerset Briar Jumpers. Both teams are towards the top of the region, and winning this match-up would be a great close to a hard week for the Rebels.

Starting in doubles, the Rebels needed to set the tone early. At number one doubles, Caleb Sutton and Ethan Drake won a tight doubles match 8-4. At number 2 doubles, Desmond Rapp and Lance Slone lost a close one, by a score of 7-9.

The Rebels were on fire in singles! At number one singles, Mason Young took down the defending region champion 3-2, with the Somerset player retiring from the match. Sean Guiney cruised to a fantastic 8-0 win at number two singles, while Briar Bentley put on a clinic at number three singles, winning 8-1.

The Rebels won 4-1 overall, and will try to beat Somerset Christian on Monday.

 

The Boyle County Boys Tennis team took on region powerhouse Casey County on Monday night. This was Boyle’s first match in a week due to weather and they needed to get back into the swing of things. This was by far the hottest match of the year, around 85 degrees. This made quite the difference in the matches.

Starting off in doubles, Boyle quickly took the advantage in number two doubles. Ethan Drake and Desmond Rapp won 6-1 6-3 in a great showing for the pair. This was followed by Lance Slone and Andrew Carr’s win, 8-1 at number three doubles. To end the night, Caleb Sutton and Jacob King played a marathon match and lost 3-6 6-2 1-10.

The Rebels split the singles matches. Mason Young lost 2-6 1-6 at number 1 singles, and Sean Guiney won 6-0 6-0 at the number 2 spot.

The Rebels have a quick turnaround, playing Pulaski County at home at 5:15 PM.