On Tuesday, September 19, the Gibson Southern boys varsity tennis team faced off against the Mater Dei Wildcats at Mater Dei. Senior Landon Kiesel won both of his sets 6-0. Junior Lucas Church won both of his sets 6-2. Freshman Jaxon Curl also won both of his sets 6-0 and 6-1. Each of the doubles teams also took home wins. Senior John Kiesel and junior Noah Kiesel won both of their sets 6-0. The other doubles team of seniors Dawson Maurer and Grant Wade won both of their sets 6-1 and 6-0, giving the Titans the sweep in all events.
Head coach Kyle DeBord thought the Titans met expectations against the Wildcats and was pleased with the effort.
“I really think the team played well last night,” DeBord said. “We were able to dictate control of the points and never really allowed them to do what they wanted.”
DeBord noted that the team does well on certain aspects of the game, specifically understanding their opponent. Also, he thought there were a few things the team needed to improve on.
“For singles, [they] do a good job of attacking the opponents’ weaknesses,” DeBord said. “I would like to see them put more balls away at the net to end points sooner. For doubles, they do a good job of picking the spots for their shots. I would like to see the doubles not float so many balls up to the opponent team net player.”
Maurer had high expectations heading into the game and was particularly impressed with how Landon Kiesel performed.
“Our expectations were to win across the board and win 5-0,” Maurer said. “Our number one singles player, Landon, lost to Mater Dei’s one singles player in a tournament a couple of weeks ago, but Landon played a great match, and we came home with the win.”
John Kiesel thought the doubles teams succeeded on two aspects which helped lead them to the win.
”I felt pretty confident in our doubles matchup vs. Mater Dei,” Kiesel said. “I think both doubles did a really good job with attacking the net and bringing the game to them. The team is finishing our last few matches and getting ready for Sectional.”
DeBord believes the Titans will do big things as long as they play as expected heading into the postseason.
“We really want to be playing our best tennis going into the postseason,” Debord said. “We have about one week left before it is win or go home. I feel like if we play our best tennis, the wins and losses take care of themselves.”
The Titans will next face off against Barr-Reeve at Barr-Reeve High School on Saturday, September 23, at 8:30 a.m.
