Wave netters top Brookville
By George Starks

GREENVILLE- The Greenville boys tennis team improved to 9-4 Monday after downing Brookville 5-0.

The Wave won in straight sets in all five areas as the Blue Demons seemed to be of no match for the Wave.

“It was nice to get a win tonight, especially with the rain coming in,” said Wave coach Dennis Kiser. “This is a very deep team. I’ve played 12 different kids at the varsity level this year.”

Starting with the number one singles player, Voja Tatarevic won his match, 6-2, 6-2, getting the night started for Greenville.

With the win, Tatarevic went to 11-2 on the season but according to Kiser, it wasn’t one of the better outings of the year for the Greenville senior.

“He really didn’t play very well tonight,” said Kiser. “He looked good at times but he’s a perfectionist so he admitted he didn’t hit the shots the way he wanted to and it was obvious, he was playing against a very good player. He’s the type that wants to do well at everything that he does. He works hard at everything and he trains hard.”

In the second singles, junior Evan Kiser won 6-0, 6-2 despite coming off a recent injury.

“He hurt his back about three weeks ago and he hasn’t been the same,” said Kiser. “Tonight, I seen him play a little better. He was hitting shots he normally hits. He wasn’t stroking the ball the way he was at the start of the season. He’s starting to come around now.”

In the middle of the first set, Dennis talked to his son and the chat proved to pay dividends.

“I went out there and told him what I expected,” said Kiser. “He didn’t have good form in the first three games. He finally started hitting the ball a little better with a little topspin. I liked what I was seeing tonight. I thought he played better tonight than he had been but he didn’t think so. I was happy with the way he played just because of his shots and shot selection.”

Senior Javi Bixler secured the victory with a 6-3, 6-3 victory in the third singles match.

“Javi is a pretty solid three down there for me,” said Kiser. “All three of my singles players are really solid. You’re going to have to beat them. They are not going to beat themselves. Javi, being a soccer player, has great footwork and that’s huge on the tennis court and it contributes to his play. Most of my team is soccer players so their ability on the soccer field definitely contributes to their tennis success.”

In doubles action, seniors Dylan Blinn and Nathan Haviza took the number one doubles match, winning 6-0, 6-0, while juniors Mason Rich and Adam Null took the number two doubles match, 6-0, 6-2, completing the Wave sweep of Brookville.

“Both my doubles teams has been with the program for at least three years and n the case of Nathan Haviza, he’s been in the program four years,” Kiser said. “I expect a lot out of them. They are all pretty solid players.”

With graduation coming, Kiser will graduate four seniors but says the future of Wave tennis is bright.

Watch for his comments on the future of Greenville tennis coming soon.