By RYAN WALKER
Senior Ethan Ottinger played his final match as a member of the Norwell tennis team with a two-set loss to Blackhawk Christian’s Rylan Doden Wednesday afternoon. The match took place at Carroll High School, where the individual sectional tournament and the team regionals were hosted.
The road ended with a talented opponent in Doden, who won the two sets 6-1, 6-1, and Ottinger was quite impressed with his ability.
“Well, his serve was insane,” he chuckled. “His placement was unparalleled. His consistency was ridiculous. I don’t know. It was just an overall well-rounded player.”
Ottinger is quite the player himself as he finished his final season 12-7 for the Knights as its No. 1 singles player. The previous day he defeated South Side’s Aiden Hapner in the first round in convincing fashion 6-3, 6-1.
His path to success came through the eyes of now head coach Noah Tobias, who began as a volunteer coach during Ottinger’s freshmen season.
“I remember when I was a volunteer assistant then,” he said. “He was the most unorthodox player I’ve ever seen in my life. He was still good at that point, but over his four years, he’s gotten to be so much better because he’s just worked at it so hard each and every year, and that’s why he’s always been a leader on this team.”
Despite ending the season and his career, both Ottinger and Tobias look at it from a different perspective. One that made his senior season something he will never forget.
“It’s exciting,” Ottinger said. “I never have really had anything this far before. Having it being my senior season is really special.”
“The fact that he was able to get this far his senior year was really amazing to see, and it was well deserved because of everything he’s done for Norwell tennis. So I’m super proud of him,” Tobias said.
The head coach has made an effort to continue a family-type atmosphere on and off the court with the team. Going out to eat together, praying before matches, overnighters, and even picking on one another as a team has made the game more enjoyable as a group.
Each player supports each other. When there is a break in one of the games, players will typically peek over at another game and encourage their teammates.
Since it’s an individual tournament and not for the team, the player and the coach are the only two expected to be there.
Not for Norwell.
Six members of the team made the trip up to Carroll to watch their teammate compete. They cheered him on and met up with him after the match to talk and roam the other matches going on. That effort did not go unnoticed.
“It means the world,” Ottinger said. “I mean, we are a really tight tennis team. Good friendships, and I’m so glad that not only that I played my senior year and had a good tennis season, but with a great group of kids.”
As Noah Tobias gathered around his team during and after the game, he accomplished a personal goal by seeing the support his team gave.
“The fact that they’re willing to do that and drive 30 minutes to support a teammate means that we’re doing something right,” he said.
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