Friday, March 30, 2001
N.Ky. boys tennis preview
Highlands faces questions in new season
By Ray Schaefer
Enquirer contributor
Highlands boys tennis coach Steve Sparks thought a second straight regional team title would be easy as putting away a short lob. But not now. Sparks said one injury and several defections has him feeling nervous.
“That's got us up in the air a little bit,” Sparks said. “We thought we'd be going in strong, but we're going through some iffy situations.”
A hamstring injury sophomore Kyle Hardin suffered during basketball season worries Sparks, though Hardin played this week. The reason for concern: Hardin and his cousin, junior Jason Roedig, clinched the team title when they beat Beechwood's Aaron Rassell and Mark Jasper for the doubles crown last season.
But Highlands is far from finished. Senior Ben Freer, who will play at Valparaiso next year, is a contender in singles.
Freer reached the regional semifinals last season before falling to Beechwood senior Billy Hopkins.
“With all the football he's played, he's got some real good strength and stamina,” Sparks said. “You have to be strong to play outside linebacker at Highlands, that's going to carry over to his tennis season.”
What is usually a four-player singles tournament could become a three-player race. Freer, Hopkins, Beechwood senior Ashley Busald and Dixie Heights senior Justin Yeager have been the top four the last two years, but if Busald and Hopkins switch to doubles (the two won the regional title as sophomores in 1999 and eighth-graders in 1997), that leaves Freer, Yeager and Beechwood freshman Aaron Rassell.
“Billy Hopkins and Ashley Busald are working hard to make their senior year their best,” Beechwood coach Suzy Wera said. “Aaron Rassell has worked hard on his tennis game ... We had four seniors graduate last year, so we are counting on the younger players to fill their positions.”
Reuniting Busald and Hopkins would be a good idea, especially since losing to Hardin and Roedig cost Beechwood the team title. But Busald, who is headed to Transylvania next fall, was not revealing anything.
“We never made that decision until regionals,” Busald said. “We've got to see who's good at what. You can't pick a lineup now.”
Covington Catholic coach Al Hertsenberg said Yeager, Busald, Hopkins, Rassell and Freer are the top five, but he said junior John Sullivan is worth watching, too. He said Sullivan is as good a strategist as anyone he's coached - including four-time regional champion and Illinois senior Ben Schreiber.
“John Sullivan is very focused on the court,” Hertsenberg said. “I'm impressed with that.”
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N.Ky. boys tennis preview
