The Pioneers played in the 14 team Lincoln Northeast / Lincoln High Invitational, which included high level teams of class A and class B. With heat indexes rising to near 100 degrees the team cut their teeth with great competition and difficult conditions. These first matches will go a long way in preparing for the season. The standout performance for the Pioneers came from the #1 doubles combination of Caleb Poggemeyer and Connor Causgrove. The pair combined for a 3-1 record while earning 5th place with their only loss coming to an outstanding Papillion-Lavista team. The Poggemeyer-Causgrove team defeated Class B Waverly 8-2 and York 9-7 and Class A Lincoln Northeast 8-2. They played an attacking style with powerful slams at the net by Causgrove and precision groundstrokes by Poggemeyer. They already have a great deal of chemistry for this early in the season. Anthony Robinson was able to pull out a win from Lincoln Northeast Carson Pierce after some tough losses against Jackson Schwanebeck (12) of Norfolk as well as Ben Boudreau (11) of Papillion-Lavista. Robinson’s first experience at #1 singles was a tough challenge but he competed well against the all Class A competition. Also earning a win against a Class A Fremont team was the #2 doubles of Eli McNeely and Nathan Dia. Dia was a game day substitution due to a freak ankle injury to Braydon Thornton during a volleyball game during their weight training class. It took Dia a little while to adjust to the speed but he and McNeely pulled it together in their second match by holding on to a two game lead as Fremont battled back and exchanged service wins. Thornton will be out at least a week so the Pioneers will have to shuffle the lineup for their three events this coming week. Monday the Pioneers will take on South Sioux City and Omaha Benson in a home triangular and then will go to Beatrice for a dual on Thursday and then the Lincoln Christian Invite on Friday.
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Pioneer Tennis has settled on a starting lineup going into their first week of action. Anthony Robinson will lead the team at #1 singles as they compete in a home triangular with Omaha Benson and South Sioux City on Thursday. On Friday, they go to Lincoln to compete in the Lincoln Northeast/Lincoln High invitational. This will be Robinson’s first time competing at #1 singles as he played mostly doubles and lower level singles last year. He commented that “I am a bit nervous going into the season but we have all gotten a lot better since last year” Keno Schuldt (Foreign Exchange Student) will be playing #2 singles. Schuldt has played club tennis in Germany and is excited to compete in Nebraska. Schuldt earned the Varsity spot by competing well in a JV challenge ladder this past Saturday. Caleb Poggemeyer (12) and Junior Flamethrower Connor Causgrove begin their season in the #1 doubles spot. These two have put in a tremendous amount of work in the past year with the goal of getting over the hump at State and earning their way into the medal round. Completing the team at #2 doubles this week will be the Senior combination of Eli McNeely and Braydon Thornton. Both have grown 3-4 inches in the past year, which should help as they prowl the net like tigers stalking their prey. Coach McNeely commented that “The Pioneers are ready to go and this should be another great year.” The 2021 Pioneer tennis team returns 4 key players from the statistically best team in Pioneer history. Returning medal winners Anthony Robinson (11) and Eli McNeely (12) will join fellow State competitors Connor Causgrove (11) and Caleb Poggemeyer (12) to lead the Pioneers into a new season. All four players have put in a tremendous amount of work preparing for this season. Joining these leaders will be fellow seniors Braydon Thornton and Zach Ottemann. The #1 goal for the pre-season will be finding the 5th & 6th men and then determining who will play singles and doubles moving forward. Vying for those two spots are Thornton, Zach Ackerman (11), Nathan Dia (10), and Lucas Nielson (11) who has caught on quickly since moving over from the cross country team. These four will be competing often in the next two weeks to answer these questions. The summer was also exciting, we have several new guys who joined us during camps in May and then proceeded to put in hours of work this summer in small group lessons. Seven freshmen led by Cutler Adams and Gavin Koberstein will surely make an impact on the Junior Varsity team this year, however they will be pushed by their classmates Rush Chipman, Connor Engle, Dane Sjulin, Trevor Tesarek, and Maverick Weninger. This group has real potential for success in the next couple of years. The team has been practicing with 18 guys during the first week, but the roster could grow between 5-10 members could be joining after the start of school when several return from vacations and more students learn about the opportunities the Nebraska City tennis team has to offer. |
AuthorThese articles are written by coaches, players and parents of the tennis team. Archives
September 2022
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