BILL SPELTZ406 MT Sports
MISSOULA— On a windy Friday at Fort Missoula, Missoula Loyola's three-time defending State B-C champion tennis team engaged in frenetic matches that proved quite fruitful.
Defending singles champion Dillon Taylor pulled off arguably the most dramatic comeback in the tournament in the semifinals. The Rams senior trailed Dallas Berkram of Cut Bank 2-5 in the third set before rallying for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-5 lead.
At that point, Berkram retired with leg cramps.
"It was really hard— I noticed he was starting to cramp up a little bit when I was down 2-5," Taylor said. "I knew I had some ground to cover, so I just started playing my game, started being a little more confident when I saw that.
"It got to around 5-5 and then I had all the confidence and he started cramping up worse and worse. I had all the wind in my sails but it was definitely hard to see him go down like that."
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Watching an opponent battle cramps does not automatically mean victory for the player on the other side of the net. It can be unnerving and a cramping player will often throw caution to the wind.
Taylor might have played conservative at 2-5, waiting out his cramping foe. Instead he played aggressive.
"I definitely started going more for my shots," he said. "I was trying to steer the ball a little too much when I was down. I knew it was now or never and I needed to be more confident in everything I was doing."
Taylor, who will play Valley Christian eighth grader Orlander Bork in Saturday's title match at Playfair Park, said it hasn't been easy wearing a target on his back as defending state champ. Playing his good friend in the championship won't be easy, either.
"I've definitely felt the pressure, so it was definitely a big weight off my shoulders making it back to the finals," he said. "I've got work to do, but it's good to be back."
Bork steamrolled to a 6-2, 6-3 win in his singles semifinal. He has yet to drop a set in the state meet and is looking to avenge three losses to Taylor this season.
Loyola's defending state doubles team of Carter Topp and Joe Kirschenmann pushed its way through a tough semifinal, winning 6-3, 7-5. The duo will play Valley Christian's Preston Reimer and Ross Cruikshank in the finals after the Eagle team outlasted Loyola's Brendan Nedrud and Declan Harrington, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 6-3.
Girls finals set
Loyola senior Ava Bellamah, who already has two state doubles titles to her credit, had a strong Friday morning in singles. She topped defending state singles champion Mya Berreth of Chinook in the semifinals.
Bellamah will face Rilee Molyneaux of Chinook in the final Saturday.Molyneaux won her semifinal over Kylie Kovatch of Choteau.
In the girls doubles final, Maya Wilson and Kamree Pearson of Fairfield will play Bird and Collins of Townsend. Wilson and Pearson had an impressive semifinal win overKaylee Zietzke, who made up half of the doubles champion team last year, and her Simms teammate Macy Herman.
Although Zietzke and Herman fell short in their bid for the finals, their story is an inspiring one. Neither plays tennis in the winter because they're on the basketball team.
Zietzke and Herman both believe that basketball makes a great cross-training sport for tennis. They're used to playing in front of a crowd and neither is easy to rattle.
"To me, shooting a free throw is like serving in tennis," Zietzke said. "People are watching you and it's embarrassing if you airball your free throw and it's embarrassing if you serve the ball into the net.
"I think those two are about equal. Then just like basketball, if one player is messing up in doubles, the other knows to pick up for her. That's easy for us."
Basketball experience also helps with focus, according to Herman.
"You know you need to stay in the game," she said. "And we're very united as a team. We play as one basically, and it definitely helps having played together two years ago."
Despite the fact their state title hopes were dashed, Zietzke and Herman still have a shot at third place Saturday and still have their perspective. For them, it's simply enjoyable to have one last chance to compete together before Herman moves on from high school this month.
"We've grown as tennis players, so it's fun to come back together," Zietzke said. "We're going to go as hard as we can but we've gone into this with a nothing-to-lose attitude. We're just going to play tennis."
Herman likes the way she and Zietzke have played most of the weekend.
"It's having that experience, having a better understanding of the court and playing the ball better that really helps," she said.
The finals are tentatively set for Saturday around noon at Playfair Park. There is a 50 percent chance of rain and the forecasted high is 58 degrees. If it rains, the matches will move inside at the Peak Racquet Club in rural Missoula.
Bill Speltz is Missoulian sports editor. Contact him at bill.speltz@406mtsports.com or on Twitter @billspeltz
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