By RYAN WALKER
A great season for the Bluffton Tigers’ tennis team came to an end Tuesday night.
A gut-wrenching 3-2 loss to the Peru Tigers left Bluffton with a sour taste in its mouth in their first regional match in nine years. The third and final point was awarded by way of a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) tiebreaking defeat at No. 2 doubles.
Bluffton was trailing 2-0 on the official scoreboard after Peru’s No. 1 doubles and No. 1 singles gained the edge, but was in the lead in set three of the rest of the matches.
Anthony Hartman was on the verge of a victory at No. 2 singles and Jacob Ribich held the advantage at No. 3 singles. That meant the wild card was at No. 2 doubles with Dane Schlagenhauf and Kade Abbett, who held the best record overall for the team.
The match between them and Peru’s Jadin Pallante and Karter Schwartz couldn’t have been close, as only three games separated the two. In the tiebreaker, Pallante and Schwartz pulled away with the final two points and ended the drama.
That was the third point for Peru to secure a spot in the regional final against Homestead.
“We knew coming in it’d be a tough match,” Bluffton head coach Robert Vanderkolk said. “When you lose 6-4, 7-6, that’s a coin flip and it didn’t land heads for us tonight.”
Vanderkolk admitted that opposing coaches hadn’t given his Tigers a fair shot to take down Peru, which by the end of the night was almost a reality.
Ribich ended his match-winning 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-1 that all but proved that sentiment that Bluffton belonged on the court and more.
The match did not appear that it belonged at at the beginning, where three of the five spots were 3-0 leads for Peru.
Bluffton recently caught itself in a similar situation last Thursday when it trailed 3-2 to Norwell after the first set in the sectional championship. But for the second time, the Tigers never quit.
Outside of Peru’s strong No. 1 doubles team, Bluffton had moments where any game could have gone either way. Vanderkolk credited his player’s grit to something a little deeper than just tennis, but the culture Bluffton High School has instilled with hard work and a better attitude.
He mentioned several coaches in the winter and spring that coach the same kids as Vanderkolk, teaching them to be competitors on the field, in the pool, on the court and also in the classroom. The four spots in his lineup reflected it.
“These kids want to be successful,” Vanderkolk said. “They want to win. They want to do things the right way. They’re bought into what the entire Bluffton cooperation coaching staff — that’s just a testament to the people that help me.”
With a season coming to an end, it’s common to reflect the year and look toward what’s coming back next year.
Bluffton’s losing five seniors on varsity — Schlagenhauf, Abbett, Nolan Lambert, Ben Maggard and Hartman. This is similar but not quite as extreme as Vanderkolk’s ACAC title team in 2022 when he needed to replace all seven starters.
Coy Lantz (No. 1 doubles) and Jacob Ribich (No. 2/3 singles) will be back to the team along with Reid Abbett, who played No. 3 singles in Hartman’s absence for one match.
Next year, the almost entirely new varsity squad might have its growing pains, but Vanderkolk said the senior class’ work ethic and passion has brought new life into the program and it might not miss a beat, even by next season.
“I’ve got seven dudes that I’m going to miss terribly coaching,” Vanderkolk said. “They were guys that commanded their teammate’s respect because of how they show up every single day.”
“It’s going to be tough to replace them, but I also know they got their teammates ready for the future,” he continued. “These guys are hungry. I’m not going to start using the ‘G’ word and guaranteeing stuff, but it’s not of the realm of possibilities … but if they want to get hungry again like this senior class did last winter and last spring, we’re going to do some special things again next year. We’re not rebuilding, we’re reloading. That’s the plan here in the next 6-7 years. Get on board with it or go find a different sport to play because it’s go time.”
ryan@news-banner.com
Individual results:
• Jacob Boswell (P) defeated Nolan Lambert 6-3, 6-4 at No. 1 singles.
• Anthony Hartman (B) defeated Lucas Musser 7-6, (9-7).
• Jacob Ribich (B) defeated Carter Musser 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-1 at No. 3 singles.
• Jackson Boswell and Gavin Eldridge (P) defeated Ben Maggard and Coy Lantz 6-1, 6-1.
• Jadin Pallante and Karter Schwartz (P) defeated Kade Abbett and Dane Schlagenhauf 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
