Ashwaubenon freshman Jacob Hanson follows through with a shot in his No. 1 singles match May 14 at Bay Port High School (Rich Palzewic photo). 

BY RICH PALZEWIC
CORRESPONDENT

SUAMICO – Coming into their Fox River Classic Conference boys’ tennis match May 14, Ashwaubenon and Bay Port were evenly matched.

The Jaguars won the key matches they needed to post a 6-1 victory over the Pirates at Bay Port High School.

Ashwaubenon swept all three doubles matches – two in come-from-behind fashion – and won three of the four singles contests to improve to 7-5 overall and 5-3 in the FRCC.

Bay Port’s only win of the night came at No. 3 singles where Max Schauer won a three-set match over Alex Steinfest.

The Pirates dropped to 10-8 overall and 3-5 in conference play.

“We thought maybe it would be a 4-3 match either way,” said Ashwaubenon head coach Scott Conradt. “We are pretty evenly matched, but I thought our No. 1 doubles and singles really came through for us. I think our guys just played really hard today. Across the board, I think the Ashwaubenon-Bay Port rivalry is the best in the conference. It’s a positive rivalry between two good schools that have talent.”

Ashwaubenon’s No. 1 doubles team of Kole Kolinski and Colin Chapman had the easiest match of the night in dropping just one game overall against Bay Port’s Travis Van De Yacht and Brett Fugelstad.

Bay Port split their No. 1 doubles team into the top two singles spots, but the Jaguars won both of those matches as well – including at No. 1 singles where freshman Jacob Hanson handled Eric Stratman 6-3, 6-0.

The most competitive spots came in doubles at No. 2 and 3. The Pirates won the first set in each of those matches, but Ashwaubenon came back to win both in three sets.

The Jaguars’ No. 3 doubles team saved two match points trailing 4-5 in the third set, while the No. 2 team was down 4-0 in the third as well.

“We’ve had a lot of ups and down this year,” said Bay Port coach Steve Matuszewski. “Even within the match, we are not playing at a consistent, high level all the time. We have to fix that pretty quick. It comes down to mental fortitude and getting some fight internally. We worked hard in the offseason, but we are reverting back to some of our poor fundamentals. It’s easy to look good against a ball machine, but it’s a big difference in match play. Give Ashwaubenon some credit – they came out with more energy and competitiveness.”

Note: According to Ashwaubenon co-coach Murray Gleffe, the No. 4 singles match had an amazing 121-shot rally.

Ashwaubenon 6, Bay Port 1: No. 1 singles – Jacob Hanson (ASH) def. Eric Stratman (BP), 6-3, 6-0; No. 2 singles – Bailey Conradt (ASH) def. Aaron Murphy (BP), 7-6 (5), 6-1; No. 3 singles – Max Schauer (BP) def. Alex Steinfest (ASH), 6-4, 0-6, 6-4; No. 4 singles – Sam Spika (ASH) def. Ben Bruen (BP), 6-3, 6-3; No 1 doubles – Colin Chapman/Kole Kolinski (ASH) def. Travis Van De Yacht/Brett Fugelstad (BP), 6-1, 6-0; No. 2 doubles – Grant Atwood/Sam Lokken (ASH) def. David Ceaglske/Carter Olson (BP), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4; No. 3 doubles – Justin Heller/Aidan Christensen (ASH) def. Tanner Belschner/Hudson Menne (BP), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 7-5.