Kirkwood dumps Central in sectional

KIRKWOOD — Kirkwood tennis coach Art Stout calls his 2008 team his best ever.

That statement has a lot of weight considering that Stout is in his 51st season as the Pioneers coach.

Kirkwood ended a strong season by Central with a 5-0 win in the Class 2 sectional round Saturday at Kirkwood Park.

"We won some games and competed well today," Tigers coach Bud Craven said. "Kirkwood is a very good team."

The Pioneers won all five completed matches in straight sets. They won the first set at love in the first three positions in the lineup, but Central seemed to get better as the match went on.

Senior David Berry lost at No. 1 singles to Kirkwood senior Matt Waite, 6-0, 6-2. Waite just came off a district tournament in which he defeated the top two returning singles players in the state.

Berry had some good moments in the match, including back-to-back aces. He trailed only 3-2 at one point in the second set.

"I had several opportunities to close out games and couldn't do so," Berry said. "It is good to play someone like him right before state. He is the best player I have faced this season. It is his power and consistency together which makes him so good. I really wasn't even expecting to win a game off of him."

Berry and senior Patrick Duffy, who will be competing in doubles at the state tournament in Springfield on Friday and Saturday, closed out the day with a confidence booster. They started their No. 1 doubles match against Waite and his partner, Joseph Stuhlmann. The Tigers duo had a 3-1 first-set lead before the match was stopped when Kirkwood won its fifth and clinching match.

"I am anxious to see how we will do at the state meet," Berry said. "It would be nice to get a win or two. Based on what we saw last year, we know it is going to be tough to win one."

The luck of the draw has a lot to do with success at state. Berry and Duffy do have the advantage of being district champs. That means they will face a team that finished second in another district in the opening round.

Berry and Duffy move on, but Saturday was the end of the line for seniors Will LaFoe, Garrett McMillan, Brandon Gonzales and Josh Hubbard, who comprised the rest of the district lineup.

"We finished 16-4 and our losses came to the fifth-ranked team in Kentucky, to a strong Lindbergh team, which had three foreign kids, one to Sikeston in which we had a couple of guys out and then today," Craven said. "I have had three great teams here and this is one of those three."

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:Kirkwood 5, Central 0

Singles

No. 1 — Matt Waite (K) def. David Berry, 6-0, 6-2.

No. 2 — Britton Schlotz (K) def. Patrick Duffy, 6-0, 6-1.

No. 3 — Grant Pope (K) def. Will LaFoe, 6-0, 6-3.

No. 4 — Joseph Stuhlmann (K) def. Garrett McMillan, 6-2, 6-4.

No. 5 — Brandon Mitchner (K) vs. Brandon Gonzales, DNF.

No. 6 — Drew Morris (K) def. Josh Hubbard, 6-3, 6-0.