Hazelwood West Tennis Gets Back On Winning Track

varsity boys tennis coach Todd Hoffman tried like the dickens, but couldn’t quite come up with the right word to describe his squad this spring.

Hoffman must’ve tried three or four times to appropriately describe his 2011 Wildcats, and each time afterward he seemed unhappy with his choice of words.

The coach may have been making it a harder to find the words than he needed to, because on April 7, in a 5-2 team meet win against Fort Zumwalt West High, it was easy to see why Hazelwood West has done so well in tennis this spring.

“We’ve got a lot of guys doing real good so far,” Hoffman said. “We’ve got nine seniors on the team this year, and four of them got into the starting lineup last year, but they’ve all been pretty good overall.”

The Wildcats certainly lived up to that billing on Friday, winning all three doubles matches against the Jaguars, then winning two of the four singles contests, for a convincing 5-2 win.

“It just works out well that we have enough good guys across the board that we can (compete with anybody),” Hoffman said. “The guys have really come through to make sure we get at least the four points (needed to win the meet).”

Hazelwood West’s three doubles teams winners were at No. 1 doubles, senior Alex Davis and junior Josh Merlenbach; at No. 2 doubles, senior Josh Sutter and Nick Ehlers; and at No. 3 doubles, junior Brenden Wicks and senior Kameron Mitchell.

Fort Zumwalt West won the No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches, but Hazelwood West was able to close out the meet victory with win at No. 3 singles and at No. 4 singles.

“It’s happened a couple of times this season, where maybe the other teams one and two are better than us,” Hoffman said. “But when you get down to the three and the four, and the doubles, we end up coming through.”

Wildcat No. 3, sophomore Myles Xanh made quick work of Zumwalt West’s Justin Santer, 6-1, 6-3, while senior Brendan Rowberry outlasted Jordan Farhat, 7-5, 6-2, to cinch the Hazelwood West win.

“Brendan Rowberry is undefeated,” Hoffman said. “He played doubles last year. But he’s 5-0 (in singles matches), and he’s playing really well.”

Hoffman said Xanh, the lone sophomore in the starting lineup, was the player who had improved the most from last season.

“He’s been really coming around,” Hoffman said. “He’s 4-1, and I expect him to be really good this year, and the next couple of years. He’s (rallied to) come back from some tough ones, where he was behind, but came back to win. ”

Hazelwood West now boasts a 4-1 meet record on the season.

But the Wildcats will be tested their next time out, this Tuesday, April 12, when they’ll travel to McCluer North for a tough matchup with the Stars.

“I hear that they’ve got some real good singles players,” Hoffman said. “We’re undefeated in the conference, and its our goal to win the conference. So we’ll see how that goes.”

That Hazelwood West at McCluer North matchup on Tuesday, is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.

West’s next home meet is Friday, April 15, when the Wildcats will host Francis Howell Central, also at 4 p.m.