Notre Dame earns trip to first boys tennis final four

Early on it appeared the Notre Dame Bulldogs would cruise into the Class 2 State semifinals, but the Missouri Military Academy Colonels fought back to put both sides on the edge of their seats.

Notre Dame would win the race to five, but after jumping out to a 3-0 lead, things got tense down the stretch.

Charlie West would win his singles match to push the Bulldogs to the edge of victory, but the Colonels would respond with three-straight singles wins to put the pressure on Owen Blattel and Blake Schreckenberg.

While Blattel was in a tie-breaker, Schreckenberg would come out on the winning end to clinch the match for the Bulldogs.

“I’m really proud of them,” Bulldogs coach Donna Ryan said. “But honestly, I expected this from them. They are a good group of kids that work hard.”

While Blattel and Schreckenberg serve as the No. 5 and No, 6 on the team, Ryan emphasized the role those two play in the team’s success.

“They’re very important,” Ryan said. “They’ve done that before this season. They’ve both had the most growth over the course of the season.”

Ryan feels the postseason brings even more out of her team.

“They grow more during this time of year,” Ryan said. “They work harder. We don’t have very long practices but they’re very intense.”

Charlie West and Matthew Austin won their doubles match with a score of 8-5.

Thomas Southard and Eli Youngblood won their match 8-3 to push the lead to 2-0 for Notre Dame.

“Thomas and Eli are a wonderful doubles pair,” Ryan said. “They know how to manage one another. Seeing these kids doing this and gelling like that is really exciting for us (coaches).”

Rounding out the doubles were Blattel and Schreckenberg who won their match by a score of 8-5.

In singles, West won his match 6-1 and 6-0. Schreckenberg would win his match 11-9 and then 6-2 to send the Bulldogs into a frenzy of celebration.

With the win, the Bulldogs will have some time to prepare as they get set for the Class 2 Semifinals where they will take on the winner of Helias Catholic and Platte County at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 27 at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield, Missouri.

Clinching a berth in the state semifinals marks the first time in school history a Notre Dame boys team has made a final four.