It’s an overhead smash Mountain Range junior Zach Bohan would like another crack at.
Up 8-7 in a second set tiebreaker last Thursday morning in the opening round of the Class 5A state boys tennis tournament, Bohan and teammate Brody Frethold were an overhead slam away from forcing a third set in the No. 3 doubles match. With Bohan at the net, a short lob came his way on the third set point the Mustangs had in the second set, but his overhead sailed long.
“I was thinking, ‘easy shot’ we’d get to a third set,” Bohan said. “I put too much on it and sent it out.”
Chatfield’s Ben Gleave and Charlie Meyers won the next two points to finish out the match with a 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) victory at Gates Tennis Center in Denver.
“It was tough, but we’ve got next year,” Frethold said. “Going to state after playing just the last two or three months was pretty cool.”
Bohan and Frethold were primarily baseball players for Mountain Range, but decided to tryout for the tennis team this fall.
“Just as a bit of a joke we came out for tennis,” Frethold said. “We came out to have fun.”
While the first set wasn’t too enjoyable, Bohan and Frethold fought back in the second set. They actually had a pair of set points up 6-5 in the second set, but couldn’t close out the set.
“We are both very competitive and want to win,” Bohan said. “We go out there and do our best. Today we just came up a little short.”
Mountain Range sophomore Matt Flanigan didn’t come up short on his goal of matching his sister’s accomplishment of advancing to a state tournament. Micaela Flanigan qualified for the 5A girls state tennis tournament in the spring of 2010 with doubles partner Kristi Stanley.
Matt Flanigan, who played No. 1 singles as a freshman, made his first state tournament last week at No. 2 singles.
“I still can’t believe I made it here as a sophomore,” Flanigan said after losing his first-round match to Boulder junior Julian Melcer 6-2, 6-1. “Next year, if I make it, I’ll be ready for state. The nerves will be settled.”
With Taylor Macres moving up from No. 3 to No. 1 singles this season it gave Flanigan a bit of an easier road to the state tournament.