Bulldogs go the distance to beat Roughriders

ST. MARYS - If Saturday's boys tennis contest between Celina and St. Marys is any indication, the rematch in WBL play on Thursday should be a dandy.

The cross-lake rivals met in an opening round match of the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association Division II Team Tournament and went the tennis equivalent of 15 rounds. All five matches went three sets with the Bulldogs holding on for a 3-2 win over the Roughriders at the Roughriders' home courts.

Celina will now face Ottawa Hills on a date to be determined in the Northwest District quarterfinals after Ottawa Hills beat Clyde 3-0.

"Any way we would have played today, it would have ended that way," Celina coach Toma Hainline said. "We stroked the ball nicely, but (St. Marys) was very consistent. The two things balanced out. It came down to mental toughness in some parts and who could hit a bigger shot more consistently."

"If you're a fan and wanted to see exciting tennis, it was a good day to watch," St. Marys coach Brice Brenneman said. "Unfortunately, I wasn't a fan. I had an interest in this (match). At times I thought all five (matches) would go our way and (other) times all five would go the other way. It had more twists and turns.

Hainline switched her lineup a bit, putting singles players into doubles to evaulate how they play as a tandem. Heath Laux and Drew Rosengarten, who had been playing second and third singles respectively, teamed up against St. Marys' Jacob Grannan and Josh Wingett. After the Roughrider pair won the opening set 7-6 after having won the tiebreaker 7-3, Laux and Rosengarten took the final two sets 6-4, 6-4.

Kyle Lochtefeld and Bryce Schmiesing, who had regularly played doubles for the Bulldogs, won the first set 6-1 over Ben Hertenstein and Bo Kuenning before the Roughrider pair won the second set 6-4. The Celina tandem, however, took the third set 6-3 to give the Bulldogs a sweep in doubles.

"I wanted to see what Heath and Drew could do. It took a set to get the rust off, but they came through," Hainline said. "I thought our second doubles team battled today, like they always do."

"We made too many errors, especially in doubles," Brenneman said. "Hopefully we get another shot at them on Thursday and clean those things up."

Garrett Weininger clinched the contest for Celina with a big win in first singles over Bobby Miller. Miller won the first set 6-3 before Weininger came back to take the final two sets 7-5 and 6-2

"Garrett had two three-set matches in two days, and was able to come back after losing the first set in both," Hainline said. "He's showing a lot of mental toughness."

Cameron Dingledine picked up St. Marys' first singles win in third singles against Jan Räensch. Räensch, an exchange student from Germany, won the first set 7-6 (11-9 tiebreaker) before Dingledine won the final set sets 6-4, 6-2.

The last match to finish was the second singles contest between Celina's Matt Rable and St. Marys' Riley Niekamp. Rable won the first set 6-4 and Niekamp took the second set 6-4. Rable was up 5-2 in the second set before Niekamp came back to force a tiebreaker. Niekamp won the tiebreak 7-3 to win the match.

"Riley really had to fight uphill all day and pulled out that third set," Brenneman said. "He was down 5-2 (in the third set)."

"Even though he didn't come out the winner, (Rable) really fought his way and played some excellent points," Hainline said.

Both teams will be busy before Thursday's league match. St. Marys hosts Bellefontaine in non-league play today and then travel to Bath on Tuesday. Celina is back in action Tuesday as Wapakoneta comes to Celina.