Redskins Tennis Wins WAC Title

The Liberal Redskin Boys’ Tennis Team wins the 2009 Western Athletic Conference Championship. The odds were stacked against the Redskins when our athletes exhausted themselves pushing a squeegee for an hour to dry the courts from rain. Then, a decision was made to relinquish home-court advantage and move this tournament to Garden City where clearer skies allowed play. After a 3-hour delay, the Redskins finally got their chance to defend last year’s WAC title. In dramatic fashion, they did just that. With one match to play, the Redskins trailed Garden City by one point. The pressure to win landed on the shoulders of the #1 Doubles team, Landon Harp and Aaron Schaffer. Liberal squared off against the #1 Doubles team from Garden City and dominated play to tie the team score, 12 to 12. To determine a winner, a #3 Singles player breaks the tie. Sophomore, Josh Hamilton’s 8-1 victory over Garden City’s Chase Sterling sealed the victory for the Redskins.

Individual Results:

#1 Singles–Rogelio Alvarez went 4-0 finishing 1st Place. He defeated Dodge City’s Alex Jenkner 8-1, defeated Great Bend’s Kevin Pringle 8-4, defeated Garden City’s Andy Larkin 8-4, and defeated Hays’ Andrew Kroll 8-6 to take the 1st Place medal.

#1 Doubles–Landon Harp/Aaron Schaffer went 4-0 finishing 1st Place. They defeated Dodge City’s Tyler Woods/Garrett Salem 8-2, defeated Great Bend’s Israel Mendoza/Corbin Bosch 8-1, defeated Garden City’s Brandon Stucky/Blake Stucky 8-2, and defeated Hays’ Aaron Moritz/Ingo Jungnickel 8-0 to win 1st Place Honors.

#2 Singles–Hai Vo went 1-3 finishing 5th Place. He defeated Dodge City’s Peter Neidhart 8-7 (7-4) in a tie breaker, lost to Great Bend’s Matt Krug 0-8, lost to Garden City’s Todd Wells 0-8, and lost to Hays’ Spencer Hess 5-8 to finish 5th Place.

#2 Doubles–Vince Nguyen/Duc Nguyen went 3-1 finishing 2nd Place. They defeated Dodge City’s Pedro Calderon/Miguel Lopez 8-0, defeated Great Bend’s Ramon Garcia/Noel Rodriguez 8-0, defeated Hays’ Taylor Ermain/Brett Beowyher 8-2, then lost to Garden City’s Chris McMillan/Peyton Nelson 6-8 to finish 22nd Place.

#3 Singles–Josh Hamilton went 3-1 finishing 1st Place. He lost his first match to Dodge City’s Armando Marquez 7-8 (7-4 tie-breaker), defeated Great Bend’s Marcos Barnagan 8-0, defeated Garden City’s Chase Sterling 8-1, and defeated Hays’ Michael Sterling 8-1 to take 1st Place.

Post-season honors: Coach of the Year and Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year Rogelio Alvarez.