MOUNT VERNON – From the high school level all the way down to kindergarten, the Mount Vernon tennis program continues to find ways to grow and improve.
Kokosing Valley Tennis Authority director Steve Tier made sure that every first grader and kindergartener in Mount Vernon became the proud owner of a brand new tennis racquet.
Tier recently received a grant from the USTA Midwest’s Tennis and Education Foundation totaling $5,000, which covered the cost of supplying all of the kindergarten and first graders in all six Mount Vernon elementary schools with age-appropriate racquets. The grant money is part of an effort to introduce young people to the game.
“With the pandemic, the USTA has been making more efforts to get people interested in tennis,” Tier said. “Tennis participation in lessons and clubs is up 25% during the pandemic, so they are encouraging people to apply for some of the grants that might have been underutilized.”
The physical education teachers in each school distributed the racquets to the children and are incorporating tennis into their lesson plans. The USTA is helping there as well. Their Northeast Ohio Section is supplying some online lessons, designed to help kids learn tennis at home.
“I’ve had a couple of parents and one grandparent talk about how nice it was,” Tier said. “They were saying that it looked to be a good, quality tennis racquet. I’ve heard some of the kids at school are now talking about using their tennis racquets at home. That’s what we’re hoping has happened. At least they are becoming aware that tennis is a sport in which they have the option to participate.”
The high school team ran into a tough Ashland squad and was swept on Wednesday, May 5, in Ohio Cardinal Conference play at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. But the Jackets didn’t make it easy.
Ashland’s Ryan Frazee took down Mount Vernon’s Jack Staats, 6-3, 6-0 in the No. 1 singles battle.
“Jack played a really tough opponent,” Mount Vernon coach Jeff Jarosz said. “In the first set, he was battling neck and neck. At one point, it was 4-3 in the first set. When (Frazier) won that first set 6-3, Jack lost a little bit of momentum.”
The Jackets’ No. 2 singles player, Quinn Hoffman, battled Ashland’s Cooper Glazier, winning a tiebreaker in the second set only to lose another tiebreaker in the third and final set. Glazier won, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6.
“I was really impressed with Quinn’s increased tenacity and aggressiveness,” Jarosz said. “He’s really stepped up to the fact that he’s trying to hit a lot of winners instead of just trying to stay alive.”
Beckett Elkins, Mount Vernon’s No. 3 singles player lost 6-1, 6-1 to Ashland’s Ben Sinchak.
Mount Vernon’s No. 1 doubles team of Alex Buehrer and Brian Sabula lost to Ashland’s Seth Karnosh and Parker Harris, 6-0, 6-1. The Jackets’ No. 2 doubles team of Ethan Jarosz and Toby Boggs lost to Ashland’s Caeden Blough and Reid Wash, 6-3, 6-2.
“Our second doubles kept both sets close,” Coach Jarosz said. “Every game was going to deuce. It’s just that their kids had a little bit more consistency than we did.”
It was a slow start for the Jackets’ second doubles, but they picked it up.
“At first, my partner and I weren’t hitting well,” Ethan Jarosz said. “As the match went on, we started doing better. We did a lot of things well. Coach (Jarosz) always said, ‘Get to the net and win volleys,’ so that’s one of our goals.”
Mount Vernon fell to St. Francis DeSales 4-1 in non-league play on Thursday, May 6.
Staats picked up the lone win for the Jackets — a 6-1, 6-2 decision over Isaac Rush in No. 1 singles.
Hoffman fell to Preston Thai 6-3, 6-4 and Beckett Pechon-Elkins dropped a match to Brandon Heil 6-2, 6-3 to round out singles play.
Michael James and Kevin Heil defeated Sabula and Buehrer 6-0, 6-0; and Brenden Bullard and Enoch Oye took down Ethan Jarosz and Boggs to sweep doubles play for the Stallions.
The Jackets finished their OCC season with a 2-4 conference record going into Saturday’s OCC Tournament, which Mount Vernon will host at MVNU and at Memorial Park. First matches start at 9 a.m.
After that, the Jackets head to Pickerington Central for the sectional round on May 13 and 15.
Mount Vernon City’s annual summer tennis lesson program is set to get under way on June 2. The fee is $50 for the lessons, and the deadline to sign up is June 14. To register, go to midwestteamtennis.com.
