News Archive
Owens Receives Award As Season Closes For Boys Tennis
SETTING THE SCENE: The postseason for the Eagles ended at the Division I Sectional Tournament, as Milford was unable to advance to Districts. The Eagles end the year 8-7 overall and 3-3 in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference, continuing to improve over the past two years.
OWENS RECEIVES GCTCA RECOGNITION: Milford’s Holden Owens received recognition this season from the Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches’ Association. The junior from Milford High School received the Most Improved Player Award for 2017.
A LOOK BACK: The Milford boys tennis team celebrated Jack Eppers and Jared Gibson on Monday with a 5-0 win over Summit Country Day, when the two seniors played for the final time on their home court. Senior Jared Gibson won at second singles, as did classmate Jack Eppers playing third singles. Ben Mason took the first singles match as well. First doubles duo J Kendall Morehouse and Mark Ostrander, and second doubles Mrigank Sharma and Reed Spencer completed the five game sweep for the Eagles.
In the final regular season match, Milford fell to #10 Fairfield, 1-4. Jack Eppers/Jared Gibson were the lone winners for the Eagles, at second doubles. Ben Mason, Reed Spencer and Michael Faler lost in singles, as did J Kendall Morehouse/Mark Ostrander at first doubles.
SECTIONAL TOURNAMENT: As in the past, the weather challenged the schedule of the OHSAA Sectional Tournament, with delays and postponed matches keeping the tournament interesting. The Eagles started well, with all Milford singles and both doubles players advancing through the first matches. Unfortunately, the Eagles ran into three of the top four seeds in singles play, all from Mason and all of whom took the top three spots on the podium.
Holden Owens defeated his first opponent, Josh Schwarber of Princeton. The 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Schwarber advanced Owens, where he was set to meet Max Berky of Moeller who then withdrew. Owens was then set up for a rematch with #4 seed Vishnu Srinath of Mason, who defeated Owens in the same tournament last season. Unfortunately, Srinath took the win 6-1, 6-0, and Srinath went on to place third overall.
Ben Mason advanced from his first match, battling for a 6-3, 7-5 win over Princeton’s Joe Cunningham. Mason moved on to Alex Ditchen of Loveland whom he defeated 6-2, 6-3, a win that earned him a match with Mason’s Kaiprakash Goli, the #2 seed freshman from Mason. Goli defeated Milford’s Mason 6-0, 6-0, and advanced to end as Sectional champion.
It a three set struggle, Reed Spencer came away with a first round victory over Aaron Barge of Harrison. Unfortunately, the win earned Spencer a contest with Niraj Komatineni of Mason, the tournaments #1 seed, who won a 6-0, 6-0 win over Spencer. Komatineni went on to move through the brackets to the finals, where he fell to his teammate from Mason, Goli, the #2 overall seed.
Seniors Jack Eppers and Jared Gibson started the tournament with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Wyatt Baker and Keegan Warren of Hamilton, moving on see a duo from Loveland. That team, Connor Hogan and Matt Huether, ended the seniors’ season with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over the Eagles.
The doubles team of J Kendall Morehouse and Mark Ostrander advanced from their initial match though it wasn’t easy. The duo fought to a 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 win victory over Sycamore’s Varun Kalaiarasan and Alex Karev, the #4 seed over the tournament. Milford lost that match 6-1, 6-1. Sycamore’s duo went on to advance to Saturday's final events, where they placed third overall.
Click HERE for information on the sectional tournament and results.
INSIDE THE ECC: Based on their overall season and tournament finish, Milford ended the year with an overall third place finish in the Final Standings of the Eastern Cincinnati Conference.
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Final Standings |
||||
|
|
SCHOOL |
SEASON |
TOURNAMENT |
TOTAL |
|
1. |
Turpin |
9.0 |
9.0 |
18.0 |
|
2. |
Walnut Hills |
6.5 |
7.0 |
13.5 |
|
3. |
Milford |
4.5 |
6.0 |
10.5 |
|
4. |
Glen Este |
2.0 |
8.0 |
10.0 |
|
4. |
Loveland |
6.5 |
3.5 |
10.0 |
|
6. |
Anderson |
4.5 |
5.0 |
9.5 |
|
7. |
Kings |
3.0 |
3.5 |
6.5 |
POLL WATCH: Mason, Sycamore, St. Xavier, the ECC’s Turpin and Moeller ended the year in the top five of the final area coaches’ poll. Lakota East and Loveland finished the season tied for sixth, followed by Walnut Hills, Anderson and Fairfield. Though Milford fell out of the top ten, the team was the only other ECC program to receive votes (6) in the final poll.
