BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
When Great Bend's Brendyn Schroeder lost to Dodge City's Oscar Alvarado 8-3, he wasn't surprised when Alvarado surprised Garden City's Logan Morren, a 2-time WAC champion, 8-4.
Alvarado (28-4) used an effective style of mixing soft and hard shots and extending points to keep Schroeder and Morren off balance. Alvarado kept the tennis ball in play until they made a mistake.
Schroeder (19-8) won four consecutive points on Alvarado's service to earn one chance for a 2-2 tie, but Alvarado saved the game point and eventually pulled out to a 5-1 lead. Alvarado's patient style eventually forced Schroeder into mistakes.
"When I played consistent, it helped me today," Schroeder said. "I knew Dodge City and Garden City had good players. Alvarado is super consistent and fast. He can basically get to any ball. We had several rounds of back-and-forth points. You've got to take a chance when you have an opportunity. It's hard to know when to do that."
Garden City's Morren used a hard-hitting style that kept Schroeder off balance.
"This helps playing better players and take my shots for winners when I can. I served decent and played decent tennis today. They'll be good singles competition Friday. I'm ready for it."
Great Bend's No. 2 singles Aaron Ramirez (6-15), No. 1 doubles Kaden Deines/Cameron Harbaugh (8-24) and No. 2 doubles Jordan Manning/Jacob Parks (4-15) all lost four consecutive matches.
"Brendyn played well early and got his confidence up," said Great Bend coach Chris Manning. "The Dodge City player eliminated his mistakes. He put it all together today."
Schroeder should be seeded in the top five singles players at Friday's Salina regional.
"All the guys played well at times today," Manning said. "I like the way they've all improved this season. The other players have work to do Friday."
Garden City (14) captured its fifth consecutive WAC title, three points ahead of Dodge City (11) in perfect 70 degree weather with north winds under 10 mph.
Garden City's No. 2 singles Josh Negron (17-17) won his second consecutive WAC title with an 8-2 victory over Dodge City's Casey Cervantes. Garden City's No. 1 doubles Colin Kleysteuber/Carson Kraus defeated Dodge City's Dan Velasquez/Kevin Navarette, 8-4 for first place.
Hays High's No. 2 doubles Ken Shaffer/Kale Schwien defeated Garden City's Tom Tran/Ashton Palmer, 8-3 for first place.
WESTERN ATHLETIC
TEAM TOTALS—1—Garden City 14; 2—Dodge City 11; 3—Hays High 10; 4—Liberal 3; 5—Great Bend 2
NO. 1 SINGLES—1—Oscar Alvarado, DC def. Logan Morren, GC, 8-4; Alvarado def. Brendyn Schroeder, GB, 8-3; Alvarado def. Colin Clark, Hays, 8-2; Alvarado def. Hudson Brown, L, 8-4; Morren def. Schroeder, 8-1; Morren def. Clark, 8-6; Morren def. Brown, 8-1; 3—Schroeder def. Clark, 8-5; Schroeder def. Brown, 8-4; Clark def. Brown, 8-6
NO. 2 SINGLES—1—Josh Negron, GC def. Casey Cervantes, DC, 8-2; Negron def. Aaron Ramirez, GB, 8-0; Negron def. Kaiden Bunger, Hays, 8-5; Negron def. Dan Nguyen, L, 8-1; Cervantes def. Ramirez, 8-1; Cervantes def. Bunger, 8-1; Cervantes def. Nguyen, 8-2; 3—Bunger def. Nguyen, 8-1; Bunger def. Ramirez, 8-3; Nguyen def. Ramirez, 8-4
NO. 1 DOUBLES—1—Colin Kleysteuber/Carson Kraus, GC def. Dan Velasquez/Kevin Navarette, DC, 8-4; Kleysteuber/Kraus def. Kaden Deines/Cameron Harbaugh, GB, 8-0; Kleysteuber/Kraus def. Henry Fitzhum/Xavier Catura, Hays, 8-5; Kleysteuber/Kraus def. Parker Brown/Emmanuel Garcia, L, 8-1; Velasquez/Navarette def. Deines/Harbaugh, 8-5; Velasquez/Navarette def. Brown/Garcia, 8-4; Velasquez/Navarette def. Fitzhum/Catura, 8-4; 3—Fitzhum/Catura def. Deines/Harbaugh, 8-1; Fitzhum/Catura def. Brown/Garcia, 8-3; Brown/Garcia def. Deines/Harbaugh, 8-7 (7-4)
NO. 2 DOUBLES—1—Ken Shaffer/Kale Schwien, Hays def. Tom Tran/Ashton Palmer, GC, 8-3; Shaffer/Schwien def. Jordan Manning/Jacob Parks, GB, 8-5; Shaffer/Schwien def. Marcel Perez/Adan Romero, DC, 8-2; Shaffer/Schwien def. Jovanni Garcia/Jackson Dodge, L, 8-2; Tran/Palmer def. Perez/Romero, 8-2; Tran/Palmer def. vs. Manning/Parks, 8-5; Tran/Palmer def. Garcia/Dodge, 8-2; 3—Perez/Romero def. Garcia/Dodge, 8-2; Perez/Romero def. Manning/Parks, 8-4; Garcia/Dodge def. Manning/Parks, 8-5
GARDEN CITY—Logan Morren 3-1; Josh Negron 17-17; Colin Kleysteuber/Carson Kraus 4-0; Tom Tran/Ashton Palmer 14-15
GREAT BEND—Brendyn Schroeder 19-8; Aaron Ramirez 6-15; Kaden Deines/Cameron Harbaugh 8-24; Jordan Manning/Jacob Parks 4-15
DODGE CITY—Oscar Alvarado 4-0; Casey Cervantes 7-5; Dan Velasquez/Kevin Navarette 8-5; Marcel Perez/Adan Romero 3-4
HAYS HIGH—Colin Clark 14-9; Kaiden Bunger 10-8; Henry Fitzhum/Xavier Catura 15-5; Ken Shaffer/Kale Schwien 16-3
LIBERAL—Hudson Brown 3-5; Dan Nguyen 4-4; Parker Brown/Emmanuel Garcia 11-8; Jovanni Garcia/Jackson Dodge 1-3
