Trying to even their record for the meet, Iola High senior Brad Bazo and junior Stephen McDonald battled back from a 4-1 deficit to force a tiebreaker in their final No. 1 doubles match on Thursday.
Bazo and McDonald pulled even at 7-7 with Blake Mackinson and Andree McLain of Columbus. The teams went into a tiebreaker and Columbus won 7-5 to win the match 8-7.
“Stephen took our loss pretty hard. He hit the last ball into the net but he didn’t think about all the good shots he made during the set,” said Lyle Kern, Iola High’s tennis coach. “Brad’s serve is improving to where he is beginning to get some aces with it.”
Bazo and McDonald ended up 1-3 on the day at the Pittsburg High Invitational, taking fourth. They won 8-5 over Labette County High’s Conner Traxson and Caleb Webster.
They dropped 8-0 decisions to Fort Scott’s Davis Drake and Gage Addington and to Pittsburg’s Jake Cloninger and Sean Perkins.
Jordan Strickler, a junior, came away with the third-place medal in the No. 2 singles division. Strickler bounced back after losing his first two matches of the day.
Strickler defeated Aiden Carter of Labette County 8-3 then won the third-place match against Columbus’s Mark Guinn 8-1. He lost 8-1 to Austin Sather of Fort Scott and 8-2 to Pittsburg’s Brandon Smith.
Iola’s No. 1 singles player, junior Zeph Larney, was 0-4. He lost 8-1 to Fort Scott’s Bryce Dally, 8-0 to Hank Cloninger of Pittsburg, 8-3 to Labette County’s Joshua Mathes and 8-0 to Cody Spainhower of Columbus.
Juniors Drew Smith and Hayden Wolf went 0-4 as Iola’s No. 2 doubles team. They lost 8-0 to Fort Scott’s Hayden Barr and Michael Flater and to Pittsburg’s Kaleb Koening and Jake Creech. They dropped an 8-1 decision to Dakota Lewis and Colton Kessler of Labette County and lost 8-2 to Ross Westervelt and Aaron Napier of Columbus.
“Zeph had an off day. I can usually count on his power forehand for several winners but it seemed to be finding the net more than usual,” Kern said. “Hayden is winning more shots at the net now and Drew is really showing some improvement with his serve and forehand.”
Kern said the Mustang players have improved their serves which is allowing them to win some “cheap points.” He said the Mustangs have some finer things to work on.
“Placement of the ball on returns was the most evident thing. We must keep the ball away from any player that is at or approaching the net,” Kern said.
Iola’s tennis team hadn’t played since March 15.
The Mustangs are at Coffeyville on Tuesday, then go to Chanute on Friday.
