TENNIS REGION RESUMES

The Corbin boys’ tennis team has put themselves in position to win the 13^th Region Tennis Tournament for the 11^th year in a row.

After Monday’s play, the Redhounds led the pack with 11 points with Whitley County second with nine points. “Whitley County is the only team that can catch us and force a tie,” said Corbin Coach Curt Hart.

The most exciting match of the second-round was in the doubles where Whitley County’s number-one seeded team of Danny Butcher and Pete Comparoni had to come from behind to advance to the semifinals with a 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 win over Corbin’s number five-seeded team of Josh Jewell and Anthony Warf.

“That was the match of the day,” said Hart. “Josh and Anthony were very active at the net and had solid strokes.”

“We got the momentum in the first game of the match when we broke Whitley County’s strongest player, Danny Butcher, in the first game,” said Hart. “We went on to win that first set, 6-4.”

“The second set was extremely competitive,” said Hart. Corbin was serving for the match with a 5-4 score, but Whitley County held and broke Corbin to capture the match in a tiebreaker.

In the final set, it looked like Butcher and Comparoni had worn down the Corbin duo and jumped out to a 4-1 advantage, but Jewell and Warf stormed back and tied the set at 4-4. However, Whitley County held on for the 6-4 victory.

“I was extremely proud the Josh and Anthony today. They have been my most active net players and they almost upset the number one seed,” said Hart.
“Both teams fought very hard. The match was pressure packed and a large crowd was entertained by two good teams,” he added.

“Jewell and Anthony Warf definitely earned respect in our region by their strong performance today,” Hart said.

Whitley County Coach Nickie Dugger added, “It was a tough match for Danny with his hurt knee, he was a little tight.”

“It was the team that control the net in the third match that came out with the win. And that’s what our boys tried to do is take control of the net,” said Dugger.

“Corbin really kept pushing the net,” said Dugger. “That allowed them to come back. They volleyed when we didn’t. We wanted to play the baseline and from the doubles you have to win from the net.”

“I talked to the boys when it was 5-5 and they made the adjustments,” said Dugger. “We had some big returns and big volley’s in the tie-breaker.”

In other quarterfinal matches, the number two-seeded Seth Heinss and Avery Warf of Corbin downed Whitley County’s Chris Tam and Michael Branham, 6-2, 6-1. North Laurel’s duo of Baker/Jadhev defeated Robinson and Ausmus of Middlesboro, 6-0, 6-1 while Pineville shutout Harlan, 6-0, 6-0.

In singles’ play, number one-seeded William Tan of Whitley County made quick work of Ryean Gamble of Barbourville, 6-0, 6-1. Corbin senior Brody Freeman shutout Middlesboro’s J.P. Maiden, 6-0, 6-0.

“William will have some tough matches ahead of him,” said Dugger. “He will play Taylor Jones and if you play Tayor you need to be out there three hours because he is a very good player. William is ready for this he has been practicing hard. They two matches he has played so far, he as looked really good.”

“Brody, is the defending region singles champion and Taylor, a three-time singles’ finalist are very focused,” said Hart. “They are peaking at the right time.”

Third-seeded Taylor Jones of Corbin beat Clay County’s Phillip Burchell, 6-1, 6-0 while Tyler Hampton of Pineville downed Josh Harris of North Laurel, 6-2, 6-1.

In the earlier rounds held Saturday at the Corbin Tennis Courts, Tan, a freshman, shutout Middlesboro’s Tyler Miracle, 6-0, 6-0 while Jones beat Weston Gilmore of North Laurel, 6-0, 6-0. Freeman defeated South Laurel’s Taha Mandiviwala, 6-0, 6-0.