The three area tennis players who earned trips to the Division I state tournament this weekend knew that they were going to face some stiff competition. They just weren’t expecting to meet state champions in their opening matches this morning.
Avon Lake senior Alex Trzeciak will face Cincinnati St. Xavier senior Patrick Bandy in the first round, while the North Olmsted senior doubles team of Kevin Bus and Alex Kearney square off against the Middletown pair of junior Michael Cole and senior Patrick Hamning.
Bandy — the No. 2 seed out of the Cincinnati district — was the singles state runner-up last season, won the doubles state title with partner Jon Gaffney as a sophomore and finished fourth with doubles partner Marc Pretorius as a freshman.
“I know I have a tough opponent,” Trzeciak said. “But he is a second seed so he’s obviously beatable. If I play well, I have a chance against anybody.”
Avon Lake coach Rich Mostardi said the key will be Trzeciak’s serve.
“If his serve is on he can beat anyone,” Mostardi said. “He serves at 115-120 mph and if it’s consistently getting in there, he can hang with anybody. I tell him, ‘If you can hang with somebody, then you will always have a chance to beat him.’”
Trzeciak — the No. 3 seed from the Rocky River district — admits he knows little about Bandy, but he said he knows plenty about himself and that should be enough.
“I only lost two matches during the regular season,” Trzeciak said. “I feel I always have a shot. You can never count me out.”
While Trzeciak may not have a strong scouting report on his opponent, the Eagles have the lowdown on Cole and Hamning, who won the state doubles championship last season.
“Our team (North Olmsted grads Brad Sinko and Joe Roeder) played them in the first round last year,” Kearney said. “So we know all about them.”
Sinko and Roeder lost 6-4, 6-1 in the match, and Eagles coach Matt Demain said the Middletown pair meshed well on the court.
“They have good balance,” Demain said. “There’s not many weaknesses in their game. They are both pretty consistent from the baseline and one kid is bigger and has a real big serve.”
The Eagles earned the No. 4 seed in the Rocky River district but will face the second-seeded Middletown team because the Rocky River district sent six doubles teams to Columbus, which ruled out three top seeds and gave Bus and Kearney a favorable shot at a No. 2.
“Maybe they’ll get a little cocky,” Bus said. “I saw them last year and our guys gave them a good run for their money. I think it’s a good draw for us and I think we have a great chance of doing something down there.”
Cole and Hamning probably aren’t going to come to Columbus with an attitude, however, as they barely escaped their district tournament.
“They were down 5-2 in the third set in their quarterfinal match and came back to win in a tiebreaker,” Demain said. “So while some people might think they aren’t playing their best tennis right now, that showed me that this is a team that never gives up.
“We’ll have to play our best match to beat them.”
Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Kevin Bus, North Olmsted

YEAR: Senior
POSITION: First singles
RECORD: 10-5
LAST WEEK’S PERFORMANCE: Bus and doubles partner Alex Kearney — the Eagles usual No. 2 singles player — have compiled an 8-2 record since the end of the regular season and earned a spot in the Division I state tournament this weekend.
BIO: A four-time varsity letterwinner in tennis and golf for the Eagles. Also a huge race fan, and competes in open-wheel races as much as he can — including traveling to Beaver Run in Pennsylvania. When not racing cars, he likes to work on them — his favorite is his Honda CRX. He also splits the school day between North Olmsted High and Polaris Career Center, where he’s learning the welding trade. “I’m real handy with my hands,” he said. Also enjoys going to movies and listening to music — with his favorite artist being Michael W. Smith.
PARENTS: Jess and Sue Bus

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