Oakville halts Central boys tennis team in district final

Central's Jonah Roop lay flat on his back, his hands covering his face.

The Central junior carried the weight of the Tigers' district championship hopes on his back -- literally -- in his No. 5 singles match Tuesday afternoon against Oakville.

Roop gamely played through a back injury -- going so far as to call for medical assistance from the team trainer during the second set -- before falling to Steve Hanna 7-5, 7-6 (5) in the deciding match of the Tigers' 5-1 loss in the Class 2 District 1 championship at the Redhawks Tennis Complex on the Southeast Missouri State campus.

Roop dropped the first set and was down 4-3 in the second before winning two straight games after being attended to by the training staff. But Hanna won two straight to go up 6-5 before Roop battled back to force a tiebreaker.

With the score 3-3 in the tiebreaker, Hanna won consecutive points to claim the match and the district title for Oakville (6-5).

Central’s Pablo Jaramillo returns a shot in his No. 1 singles match against Oakville’s Adam Pleimann during the finals of the Class 2 District 1 tournament Tuesday at Southeast Missouri State University. Jaramillo won 6-0, 6-2 for the lone win in the Tigers’ 5-1 loss. More photos from Tuesday’s matches can be viewed at semoball.com. (Fred Lynch)

"I believe they were a little bit more consistent today than we were," said Central coach Bud Craven, whose squad finished the season 5-6 in dual matches. "We were erratic, getting ourselves in a position where we had trouble getting the ball back. But I think we played very well today and played a solid team. ... Pablo [Jaramillo] won easily at [No. 1] but I knew everything else was gonna be close, and that's what it was. They were close matches."

Jaramillo had gotten the Tigers off to a good start, dominating Adam Pleimann 6-0, 6-2 as Central put the first point on the board.

"My serve was on today," said Jaramillo, a senior who is one of the top players in the state. "I was consistent, and my game was on."

But things quickly went south for the Tigers. Ryan Watts was in a battle with Oakville's Matt Kalinowski at No. 2 singles, dropping the first set and eventually falling 6-4, 6-3. Meanwhile, Central's Derek Nunnery had his hands full with Oakville's Nick Lansford, battling back in the second set before falling 6-2, 6-4.

Oakville dominated the matches at Nos. 3 and 6, and the Tigers suddenly had their backs to the wall, needing to pull out another singles victory to force doubles matches.

Central’s Jonah Roop serves during his singles match against Farmington’s James Kahn.

But it simply wasn't to be.

"Whenever I stressed to my team how I want them to play, I tell them to battle for every point and be very tough to beat," Oakville coach Nick Jannett said. "I think our team is fairly new to tennis, a lot of them, but a lot of them are good athletes who are willing to stay out there on points for a long time. My strategy for them is just to stay in points, battle, be tough to beat and be mentally and physically tougher than the other player."

Oakville was content to play a solid return game, keeping the ball in play, which proved critical in the pivotal matches at Nos. 2 and 5.

"They were both very close," Jannett said. "The key for both those matches is we were able to pull off the first set in both of them, which I think mentally, once we got that first set, it was a big edge for us to win that first set and go into the second set knowing that we had a set under our belt."

Central, the district's top seed, earned a berth in the championship by easily defeating Farmington 5-2 in a morning match at Central High School. Jaramillo swept Ian Powers in straight sets at No. 1 singles, while Nunnery, Roop and Andrew LaFoe won their matches at Nos. 4-6, also in straight sets. Roop and McDowell teamed up at No. 3 doubles to defeat Farmington's James Kahn and Seth Carrington 6-1, 6-2 to clinch the win.

Central's Caleb Strickland hits a backhand at the net in singles against Farmington in the Class 2 District 1 semifinal match Tuesday, May 7, 2013 at Central High School. (Fred Lynch)

Second-seed Oakville, meanwhile, dispatched of No. 3 Poplar Bluff 5-1 in a morning match at the Southeast courts.

Class 2 District 1

Semifinal

Central 5, Farmington 2

Singles

Central’s Ryan Watts returns a volley during his No. 2 singles match against Farmington’s Matt Kalinowski during the Class 2 District 1 semifinals Tuesday morning. The Tigers advanced to the finals with a 5-2 victory over the Knights.

No. 1 -- Pablo Jaramillo C def. Ian Powers 6-3, 6-3

No. 2 -- Jojo Augustine F def. Ryan Watts 2-6, 6-4, 6-0

No. 3 -- Zach Scruggs F def. Caleb Strickland 4-6, 6-4, 7-5

No. 4 -- Derek Nunnery C def. Grant Harrison 6-3, 6-4

No. 5 -- Jonah Roop C def. James Kahn 6-1, 6-1

No. 6 -- Andrew LaFoe C def. Seth Currington 6-3, 6-3

Doubles

No. 3 -- Roop/McDowell C def. Kahn/Carrington 6-1, 6-2

Final

Oakville 5, Central 1

Singles

No. 1 -- Pablo Jaramillo C def. Adam Pleimann 6-0. 6-2

No. 2 -- Matt Kalinowski O def. Ryan Watts 6-4, 6-3

No. 3 -- Christian Kalinowski O def. Caleb Strickland 6-1, 6-1

No. 4 -- Nick Lansford O def. Derek Nunnery 6-2, 6-4

No. 5 -- Steve Hanna O def. Jonah Roop 7-5, 7-6 (5)

No. 6 -- Matt Garabaglina O def. Jalen McDowell 6-0, 6-1