Academy – Evansville Tennis Center

Alexa Elpers Signs to Play at Marian University

Ryan McDaniel — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 19:30:40 +0000

Mater Dei Senior signed her National Letter of Intent last week in front of family, friends and coaches. Alexa has been a part of our organization for many years, and we are thrilled and excited to have played a small role in her development. Despite considering multiple colleges, she ultimately chose Marian University. She will join a team that was ranked top 25 in the country. She has continually worked hard on and off the court to turn her dream of playing college tennis into a reality.

Alexa began her high school career playing number two singles, behind fellow ETC alumna Lauren Marx (Butler Univ.). Alexa took over at number one singles her junior year where she continued to be win. Alexa is a three time all-state honorable mention, three time all-conference, and three time all-district player. Her success off the court has resulted in being named a three time academic all-city honoree, and was named an Evansville Courier & Press “Bronze” Star student.

44 News interviewed Alexa and the story can be found here.

Caden Scarlett Plays International Tournament – JR Orange Bowl

Ryan McDaniel — Thu, 13 Dec 2018 18:01:53 +0000

The Junior Orange Bowl is not only an international tournament, it is one of the most important and prestigious junior tournaments in the world. The globally recognized event brings together over 1,300 of the top ranked male and female players, representing 76 countries. The tournament boasts an impressive alumni list of current pros including: Caroline Wozniacki, Genie Bouchard, Maria Sharapova, Alexander Zverev, Roger Federer, Juan Martin del Potro, Kei Nichikori, and Andy Murray. Former tennis greats such as Chris Evert, Jimmy Connors, Mary Joe Fernandez, Monica Seles, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graff have also participated.

This year, one of ETC’s own had the chance to travel to south Florida and play in this prestigious event. Caden Scarlett, who is one of the areas top players has participated in numerous USTA Midwest and National tournaments. He decided to take his talents to South Beach (technically Key Biscane) to battle against some of the best players from the US and the rest of the world. Scarlett did not gain direct entry into the main draw, meaning he had to qualify to secure a spot into the main draw.

Caden adapted quickly to the heat, humidity and outdoor conditions which is typically tough to do after being indoors for several months. His first opponent was fellow american Jaxon Lamb (Greenville, TN). Lamb is a five-star recruit and is ranked inside the top 100 nationally.

Lamb got off to great start in the first set and took the first 6-1, but Scarlett stayed focused and committed to his game plan. Caden broke serve in the second game to even the score 1-1. From that point on, the players pushed each other in a back in forth manner. The score would eventually reach 4-4 with Scarlett serving. At 4-all in the second set, Lamb would eventually break and hold his serve to win the match 6-1, 6-4

https://youtu.be/SDpHLf0f3DQ

Scarlett is the third boy from Evansville to play in the Orange Bowl since 2015.

Sarah Monesmith Will Be A Bulldog

Ryan McDaniel — Tue, 21 Nov 2017 19:08:01 +0000

Jasper High School Senior, Sarah Monesmith held a signing party Monday, November 20th to celebrate with friends, family and coaches as she announced her decision to commit to play for Butler University. By signing her letter of intent to play for Butler, Sarah will become the 2nd ETC player to join the Butler Women’s Tennis Team. Sarah earned IHSAA All-State Honors in 2016 and 2017 as a member of the Jasper Girls High School Team. She has also earned a spot on the USTA Central Indiana Cup Team where she and other players represented our area and competed against the best players in the Midwest and the Country.

Butler recently joined the Big East conference that includes Xavier University, Marquette University, Villanova University and more. Last year the lady Bulldogs finished with a season record of 5-18. The team looks to continue to improve with the help of two strong recruiting classes. Last years’ class included ETC player Lauren Marx.

Butler is set to start the season against Purdue University January 13th.

Thompson Showing Confidence

Ryan McDaniel — Fri, 08 Sep 2017 20:44:44 +0000

Great article by Kyle Sokeland of the Courier and Press. To visit the original article please click here

*This article was published Sept 1, 2017 on the Courier and Press website

EVANSVILLE – Aaron Thompson has always been a strong tennis player for the Mater Dei Wildcats.

A conference singles title and multiple state honors back that up. But looking at him now, even his coach can tell you that there is something different about him. Whatever he has changed, it seems to be working.

Almost a month into his junior season, Thompson remains undefeated on the court. Not one to toot his own horn, the Mater Dei standout is beginning to reach another level of his game.

“My season is going pretty well,” said Thompson. “I just feel great out there. I’ve had a lot of tough competition, but I feel great confidence-wise.”

Thompson came onto the scene as a freshman, compiling a 26-2 record and winning the individual Southern Indiana Athletic Conference title at No. 1 singles.

As a sophomore, he earned First Team All-State and All-SIAC honors after finishing with a 20-3 mark on the court and was the SIAC runner-up to Memorial’s Brandon Wu.

But now an upperclassman, the junior has developed a better overall game. He will attack the net more to compliment a strong serve and forehand.

“He has gotten to be more of an all-court player than he used to be,” said Mater Dei coach Christine Clements. “He has worked so hard in the offseason and he just continues to get better. We are working on some different things to improve his game, but he is playing well.”

Thompson stayed busy this summer between workouts and tournament play. He trains with the Evansville Tennis Community Association and would spend four or five days a week on the court for several hours.

He also played in several tournaments around the Midwest. His highlight came by making the Central Indiana Tennis Association Team Cup.

“I thought that I played well this summer,” said Thompson. “I made CITA Team Cup, which is where you are paired up with your district and play against other districts in the Midwest.”

Clements also sees a stronger mental approach from her No. 1 singles player. In a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Memorial’s Zach Woods Wednesday, Thompson won several long rallies to keep momentum on his side.

“He is able to hang in there during the tough points,” said Clements. “Because of all of his tournament play, he has become a lot tougher mentally.”

No. 27 Memorial prevailed 3-2 in that match to drop Mater Dei’s team record to 4-2. After winning back-to-back sectional championships, the Wildcats returned four experienced players to have a strong core for this year.

However, the rest of the lineup is still learning the ropes.

“It is a bit of a building year for us,” said Clements. “Our experienced players are very strong, so they are helping us a lot. Our younger guys are getting better pretty quickly.”

The focus for Mater Dei and Thompson will soon turn to the SIAC Tournament (September 21-22) and the sectional (September 27-30). However, teams like Castle, Memorial and Reitz have all had good showings thus far.

“I feel great, but there are a lot of tough players out there,” said Thompson. “You never know what can happen.”

Boyer and Thompson Win Midwest Qualifier

Ryan McDaniel — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 18:34:42 +0000

This past weekend, Chase Boyer accomplished something very few players have done. She won the Girls 12s Midwest Qualifier. This marks the 10th time in seven years a player from ECTA has won the Midwest Qualifier. Boyer entered the weekend as the number two seed. She won her first two matches 6-0,6-0. Her last three rounds were competitive as she played the number five, four and three seeds respectively. She beat Mischa Briggs (Indianapolis) 6-2, 7-5 in the finals to win the championship. She and Sydney Miller lost in the finals of doubles 4-8.

Aaron Thompson partnered up with Mac Rogers (Bloomington) for the second time this month to capture the Boys 18s Doubles Title. They beat Michael Koch and his partner in the second round 8-1. Thompson and Rogers would go on to win their next two rounds 8-3 and 8-6. They played Khamasi Muhiga and Alec Robillard in the finals. Thompson and Rogers won 6-4, 3-6, 1-0(9). Aaron Thompson was also a Consolation Finalist

Several Players Qualify for Midwest Closed

Ryan McDaniel — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 18:08:08 +0000

This past weekend, multiple players from the ETC Academy group competed in one of the largest tournaments of the year. The annual CITA Qualifier hosts eight age divisions throughout the city of Indianapolis and surrounding areas. Boys and Girls from the 12s to 18s age division compete to qualify for the USTA Midwest Closed. As a group, we have had a lot of success over the years, winning multiple age groups in both singles and doubles. We consistently have one of the highest Qualifying percentages of any program within CITA. This year brought the same good fortune. More than half of our players qualified for the upcoming Midwest Closed.

Two of our Kentucky players also qualified to play in the Southern Closed. Congratulations to Jon Nunez and Caleb Buckman on qualifying for the Southern Closed. Caleb Buckman (Owensboro) made it to the third round before ultimately losing the second seed in three sets.

Sarah Monesmith, Aaron Thompson, Michael Koch and Evan Bottorff competed in the 18 and Under division, and qualified. Aaron Thompson and his doubles partner Mac Rogers won the doubles championship, while Aaron also made it to the finals of the Consolation Draw only to loose in three sets.

Dev Sanapati qualified for the Boys 16s. Nichole Henning (Girls 14s) and Chase Boyer (Girls 12s) also qualified.

Congratulations to all of our players who competed in the tournament. Good luck to everyone who either automatically qualified or are waiting to qualify.

Memorial Day Weekend Brings Success on Court

Ryan McDaniel — Tue, 30 May 2017 14:23:22 +0000

For most players the holiday weekend is a great weekend to take some time off before the summer gets busy with classes and tournament play. But for some of our top players, they spent the weekend out of town playing. There were two tournaments in which our players entered. The first is the Jefforsonville Memorial Day Tournament. The other is the Midwest Level 3 – Court One Memorial Day Weekend Tournament.

As our players are gearing up for what is typically a busy summer, all 8 players posted wins with 5 of the 8 either making the finals or winning the tournament.

Three ETC players were selected to play in Okemos, MI (Court One). This tournament is a great warm-up event to the upcoming tournaments, as every player is guranteed four matches. Dev Sanapati played the Boys’ 16s and brought home two wins. Dev found himself down a set and 5-0 in his first match, before fighting back to win in a third set tiebreak. He would win again in his third match, before ultimatly losing his fourth.

Aaron Thompson played the Boys 18s. Aaron played Alan Arocho, a seeded player first round. Thompson posted a routine win of 6-1, 6-4. Thompson would go on to win two more matches over the weekend.

But perhaps the biggest tournament of the weekend goes to Chase Boyer. Boyer entered the tournament unseeeded. After winning her first match 6-1, 6-0 Boyer would play back to back seeded players. She beat Alicen Liu (#10) 6-0, 6-3; Ashley Matz (#7) 6-1, 6-2. In the quarterfinals she played Monika Glueck (Chicago District) and posted a 6-3, 6-2 victory. Her semi-final opponent was Isabella Marquart(#2). Marquart played in the March National Tournament at ETC, where she made the finals of doubles and finished top 4. Boyer took the first set 6-2. The start of the second set would be tight and competitive, but Boyer eventually pulled away to take the second set 6-1. Boyer lost in the finals to Thea Latak(#1) 6-2, 6-2.

Nichole Henning and Juleah Scarlett met in the finals of Girls’ 16s in Jeffersonville. Henning beat Scarlett 6-2, 6-2.

Caden Scarlett was the top seeded player in Jefforsonville. He would make his way to the finals before losing 6-3, 6-2.

Ollie Ossenberg and Zach Woods played in the Boys 16s age division. Both would notch wins with Ollie advancing and winning in the finals.

Congratulations to all the players this weekend. This is a great start to the summer as we all prepare for the CITA Qualifier and the Midwest Closed.

#KeepGrinding

USI Signs Local Player Lauryn Thompson

etcpoynter@gmail.com — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 19:52:05 +0000

Lauryn Thompson committed to the University of Southern Indiana this past winter, and made it official Wednesday April 19th when she signed her National Letter of Intent. Lauryn, a senior at Reitz High School held a small ceremony with family, friends and teammates. Lauryn was a two sport athlete at Reitz, but ultimately decided to focus on tennis, in hopes of playing college tennis. She will be playing for Keely Porter, who has served as the Head Coach at USI for 26 years. She is the third ETC player to play for Porter. Brenna Wu (Memorial) and Haley Jones (North) are currently on the roster. Elizabeth Wilm, an Evansville native, played at USI, and now serves as an assistant coach.

Bellarmine Signs Nick Johnson

etcpoynter@gmail.com — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 18:58:44 +0000

Nick Johnson, a Memorial Senior, signed his National Letter of Intent Wednesday afternoon to play for Bellarmine University. Bellarmine is a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, which includes the University of Southern Indiana and University of Indianapolis. Nick spent most of his senior year rehabbing an injury he suffered in the spring of 2016. Nick becomes the third member of the Memorial senior class to sign a National Letter of Intent.Brandon Wu (Citadel) and Michael Koch (IUPUI) are the other two.

Evan Bottorff Heading to Austin Peay

etcpoynter@gmail.com — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 15:02:40 +0000

Evan Bottorff, a senior at Castle High School joined other student athletes at his school to announce his plans for college tennis. He was joined by his mother and father, who also serves as Castle’s Boys Coach. Evan committed to Austin Peay in the fall but yesterdays event made it official. He will be heading down to Clarksville, TN to play for Ross Brown. Ross previously worked at Advantage Court and Fitness, and coached at the University of Evansville and University of Southern Indiana. Austin Peay is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. Austin Peay will begin conference play April 21st.