Camanche star stays cool
Nate Lambert can only laugh when thinking back to his junior tennis season.
He was quick to lose his temper and, sometimes, the match along with it.
As the Camanche senior showed at Saturday’s Pleasant Valley Invitational, those loose cannon days are behind him.
Playing No. 1 for the Indians, he held off Geneseo’s Jacob Wyffels in a 9-7 match that required Lambert to exercise his newfound poise.
“I’m a lot better about keeping my cool,” he said. “I don’t worry when I’m down early. I’ve had a couple close (matches), and I haven’t lost one yet.”
His team is winning just as much.
Camanche eked out a single-point win over PV in the invite, thanks to solid contributions from the entire team.
Trevor Mink, who trades slots with Lambert depending on who’s hot that week, won the No. 2 singles title, besting PV’s Alex Reese 8-3.
One match Camanche couldn’t win was No. 3 singles. PV’s Josh Trueblood notched an 8-3 win over Evan Todtz.
“We’re all really close,” Lambert said. “It’s good to practice with these guys when we’re all pretty equal.”
The Spartans can point the finger at themselves for their runner-up finish. The varsity squad dropped two matches to the JV team, leaving PV just short of the title.
“You like it, but you don’t really like it,” Spartans coach Randy Brockhage said. “Generally one of my strengths is depth. The way the kids played today, the PV JV actually ended up in fourth place. I’m pretty happy with that.”
Generating the most praise is Andrew Alessandra, a JV Spartan who won the No. 6 singles bracket. Tack on the No. 3 doubles win in the semifinals by JV players Matt Stoehr and Max Bramer, and the Spartan underclassmen earned fourth place behind Geneseo.
Andrew Petersen can be contacted at (563) 383-2288 or apetersen@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qcvarsity.com.