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.
]]>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.
]]>His senior proved to be another great year. Aaron managed to compile a record of 28-1 before losing to the eventual IHSAA State Champion.
Aaron will join Xavier’s Men’s Tennis team in the fall of 2019. He continues to play high level events and plans on training full time until he leaves for school.
Congratulations Aaron on the wonderful achievement and hard work! We look forward to following your career at Xavier.
]]>Aaron is the 9th ETC player in the past two years to commit or sign a National Letter of Intent to play in college.
Good luck and keep up the hard work Aaron!
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*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.”
“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.”
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
]]>Local standout Aaron Thompson (Mater Dei) was the only local player originally accepted based on ranking, but Evan Bottorff (Castle) and Caleb Buckman (Owensboro, KY) played as well after accepting entrance via an alternate list. Thompson advanced to the second round, only to lose to the seventh seeded Jake Beasley (Cumming, GA) 6-4,6-1.
Allen (left) Hand (right)
Thompson recovered and won his third match against Ian Altenburg (Chaska, MN) 6-4,6-4. Thompson eventually made it to the semi-finals of the consolation draw only to lose in three sets to Patrick Lazo (Alpharetta, GA) 1-6, 7-6(8), 1-0(9).
Evan Bottorff and his doubles partner, Patrick Fletchall (Carmel, IN) advanced to the semi-finals where they lost to eventual champions, Jake Beasley and Stewart Block (Bradenton, FL) 8-6.
Buckman, who lives in Owensboro, and often trains at ETC, lost in the first round against eighth seeded Grahan Conron (Bradenton, FL) 4-6, 7-5, 1-0(5). His
Duo (left) Fletchall (right)
second match was just as close and competitive. Taylor Streda (Parkland, FL) defeated Buckman 5-7, 6-4, 1-0(8).
Kollie Allen (Lombard, IL) entered the weekend as the top ranked girl with a National Ranking of 31. Allen would prove to be the best player in the draw. Allen advanced to the finals by walkover when Sophia Reddy (Eden Prairie, MN) withdrew due to illness. Allen met Clarissa Hand (Morrestown, NJ) in the finals. Hand beat Emma Jackson (La Grange Park, IL) 7-6(9), 6-2 in the semi-finals. Allen eventually beat Hand 6-4, 6-3 Monday afternoon to take the Singles Championship.
Unseeded Natalie Moyer (Kalamazoo, MI) and Anna Smith (Venetia, PA) beat fourth seeded Bozonvic (La Grange, IL) and Henry (Franklin, TN) 8-5 to secure a spot in the Girls’ Doubles Semi-finals. In the semi-finals they played top seeded Sophia
Beasley (left) Block (right)
Reddy and Zoe Taylor (Long Grove, IL). Moyer and Smith won 9-8(8). On the other half of the draw the sister duo of Christina Hand and Clarissa Hand routinely made their way to the finals. Hand and Hand beat Moyer and Smith 8-5 to capture the Doubles Championship Monday morning.
Boy’s doubles played true to the seeds with the top seeded team of Bill Duo (Portage, MI) and Lucas Horve (Forsyth, IL) met second seeded Jake Beasley and Stewart Block. Beasley and Block eventually topped Duo and Horve 9-8(7) to take home the Doubles title.
Hand/Hand (left) Moyer/Smith (right)
Top seeded Bill Duo, ranked #11 nationally, won cruised to the finals never dropping more than five games in any match. Fifth seeded, Patrick Fletchall entered the tournament ranked #187 beat both the number two and four seeded players on his way to the Boys Finals. Fletchall eventually upset Duo winning 5-7, 6-2, 1-0(4) to take home the singles championship.
Results: To see final and complete draws please click on the event.
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