By RYAN WALKER
“Let’s go!”
That’s the sound you hear when your tennis team comes back in dramatic fashion to open up conference play. The Bluffton Tigers did just that Thursday afternoon against Allen County Athletic Conference foe Jay County.
The game wasn’t easy by any means, grinding out a 3-2 win. The Tigers were down 2-1 with the No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles left to play. Their backs were against the wall with the conference on the line, even in game one. Head coach Robert Vanderkolk had a decision to make before the match and was worried about it for a while.
“I was nervous at about two o’clock,” the 19th-year head coach said, who was pacing all game. “Because we’ve used a couple of different lineups as of late, my assistants and I have talked, and even a couple of the seniors. They are one to challenge me in a positive way and just give me some different thoughts, which is always a good thing. But not today because then we agreed this was the lineup we were going to go with, and then for whatever reason, I started doubting.”
Vanderkolk’s doubt was placing Drew Pressler into the No. 2 singles slot, who won his match against Simon Dirksen 7-5, 6-0. However, Pressler has paired in doubles with Preston Daughtery, recently winning the No. 1 doubles tournament at the West Noble Invitational. He said he is unsure what he will stick with for the rest of the season.
The two matches remained: Keegan Schwartz on the far left side of the court and Logan Reifsteck Max Worth on the other side to determine the outcome.
Schwartz was down early, losing the first set in a 6-2 rout. After an adjustment made by him and Vanderkolk to slow the game down, Schwartz swept the next set 6-0. The rubber match either would send Bluffton home with a loss or be the first step of an epic comeback.
The Tigers senior took an early advantage and capitalized to make it 4-1 before the Patriots’ Abraham Dirksen won three in a row to make it 4-3. Then, with the encouragement of the rest of his teammates that finished their matches beforehand, he won the last two to win and tie the team score at 2-2.
When the lights shined the most, Bluffton’s No. 1 singles player showed toughness.
“Keegan and I had a conversation a couple of weeks ago because he was kind of doubting himself a little bit,” Vanderkolk said. “I just flat out told him the list isn’t very high of guys that I’m willing to throw out there for a must-win match. You’re on this list. I don’t care what the situation is. If it’s two all, I want your butt on the court because you’re going to get it done.”
Now, the No. 2 doubles match was the only one remaining.
Though it’s the first conference match of the season, the ACAC has only four teams. Bluffton and Jay County are the likely favorites to win it, so the magnitude of the game matched the intensity.
By the time Schwartz’s match finished, the last game was already deep into the final set. Reifsteck and Worth had a close 7-6 (7-2) victory over Jay County’s Luke Muhlenkamp and Isaac Miller. It only took a few more points to set up the victory, as the entire Bluffton tennis team shouted in joy at the win.
In what could be the most important win of the season, The Tigers were able to take care of business when it mattered most. But the job isn’t finished yet, and Vanderkolk understands that.
“This is step one here,” he said. “The guys are jacked. We will see what happens here in the next couple of weeks.”
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