Article
published Oct 6, 2006
Brinker powers Penn
TOM WITHERSPOON
Tribune Staff Writer
Troy Brinker keeps winning matches.
He took away his opponent Frank Sunseri's powerful forehand, leaving him
to beat himself by refusing to bide his time and volley with Brinker.
The result went as planned. Brinker's win at No. 1 singles coupled with
two doubles wins gave Penn its third straight regional championship with a
3-2 win over Culver Military Academy.
Penn coach Rick Dukeshier's revamped playoff lineup paid off. Gautham
Vaidyanathan and T.J. Snelson remained unbeaten at No. 1 doubles, and at
No. 2 doubles, regular-season No. 2 singles player Andy Hansen with Ethan
Leiter remained
perfect in the postseason.
The final ingredient was Brinker's 6-2, 6-1 strategic unraveling of
Sunseri.
Dukeshier's initial game plan for Brinker was to avoid Sunseri's forehand
by hitting to his backhand. Sunseri, though, successfully wrapped around
the ball to force the issue, hitting inside-out forehand winners for an
early 2-0 lead.Down 2-1, Dukeshier talked with Brinker at the break. They
switched the strategy to force Sunseri to attempt forehand winners on the
run. Sunseri's inside-out forehand was taken out of play.
"I think (Sunseri) said, 'There's no place on the court where I can
get a winner,'" Dukeshier said. Sunseri, however, persistently
searched for those winners anyway, slamming balls into the net all
evening.
On numerous occasions, Sunseri would smack a forehand to the corner,
straining Brinker to even get his racket on it. But he would, tapping back
a lob, leaving Sunseri to make mistakes by going for too much, plowing
intended winners into the net.
Vaidyanathan and Snelson continued their steady play. They are
in-your-face doubles players,
as the two stand side-by-side at the net, cutting off their opponents'
shots soon after they sail over the net and slamming them back out of
their reach.Andy Hansen stands tall on his serve, collapsing his racket
onto the ball powered by his long frame. "He has a big serve and a
big forehand," Dukeshier said of Hansen. "He's tough to
handle." And he's just a freshman.
His switch to No. 2 doubles for Penn's opening sectional match versus
Marian had been intended for this CMA regional matchup.
"He made the switch," Dukeshier said. "He adjusted."
For CMA, the season did not end the way it was supposed to. Coach Alan
Loehr took responsibility for his team coming up short.
"Obviously, we had high expectations. I thought we didn't practice
hard enough. And that's my fault," Loehr said. "I have to
dictate the tempo of the practice. Everyone didn't do what they needed to
do at practice, including the coach."Loehr paced the path behind the
Leeper courts searching for an answer to his top player Sunseri's beaten
mentality, hoping that he would gain momentum from one of his rare winners
in the second set to turn it around.
Sunseri, however, did not find peace of mind, as was evident just before
match point when he slowly sidled up to the net, with a glazed stare
downcast, to pick up one of his errant forehands caught by the net.
Penn plays Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Leeper Park versus Warsaw in the
opening round of semistate.
SINGLES: 1. Troy Brinker (P) beat Frank Sunseri 6-2, 6-1; 2. Reggie
Lemarroy (CMA) beat Mike Germano 6-0, 6-0; 3. Peter Ianello (CMA) beat
Sean Donigan 6-0, 6-1.DOUBLES: 1. T.J. Snelson-Gautham Vaidyanathan (P)
beat Omar Kattan-Shareef Kattan 6-2, 6-3; 2. Andy Hansen-Ethan Leiter (P)
beat Nithin Reddy-Luis Troejo 6-3, 6-0.
|