Michael Nacy became the first-ever Republic tennis player to win the Central Ozark Conference singles championship, and he teamed with Bradley Hendrix to become the school’s first COC doubles champions on a rainy day in Republic Wednesday.
Nacy cruised through the first round with an 8-1 win over Neosho’s Jordan Cox, then followed it up with an 8-5 win over Zach Gardner of Nixa. That set up a championship showdown with O.B. King of Webb City–one of the area’s best players who’s caused problems for Nacy over the past couple seasons.
Nacy used an aggressive serve-and-volley game to jump out in front. On match point, he spiked an overhead into the top of the back fence, clinching a 9-7 victory and Republic’s first-ever COC singles championship.
The doubles team of Nacy and Hendrix won their first two matches (8-2 over Carthage and 8-6 over Webb City) to advance to the finals against Nixa. They fell behind early but won four of the last five games to win the match 8-5, clinching the doubles title.
“I am just really proud of the kids. They have worked their tails off to get where they are today,” says coach Dan Vales. “Michael has worked so hard in the off-season at Coooper to try to get to the level where he can beat players the caliber of O.B. King. Every time he has played King it seemed the breaks just wouldn’t go quite Michael’s way and he would lose another close one. This time, Michael truly dominated play through his hard serve and strategically coming to the net, allowing him to finally prevail.”
In the #2 singles flight, Hendrix went 2-1, including a win over Nixa’s Garrett Bacon in the semifinals that avenged an earlier loss. Hendrix lost to Quentin Kolb of Webb City to finish with a silver.
“It’s amazing to see how far Brad has improved his game from being initially a JV player his freshman year that struggled to even get a serve in, to arguably one of the top 5 players in the conference,” says Vales.
In the #2 doubles flight, Gabe Bandfield and Jacob Overturf advanced to the championship match before getting knocked out by a team from Nixa. Their run included an upset victory over the top-seeded doubles team from Ozark in the semifinals.
“We have made some strategic changes with Gabe and Jacob–having Jacob stay back more at the baseline and Gabe charge the net,” says Vales. “I believe this move helps better play to their respective strengths.
“Gabe’s game is really come on of late and he has began to really undertake a leadership role on that doubles team. I am very proud of both of them.”
The 4th place team finish is short of the ultimate goal, but it’s a huge improvement compared to two years ago, when the Tigers didn’t win a single match at the COC tournament.
“The next step hopefully is an overall team COC championship. We have a great group of freshman and sophomores that have huge potential for next year. It will take a lot of hard work in the off-season by all our guys, but it is an attainable goal if we commit ourselves to getting better each week,” says Vales.
2015 COC Tournament Overall Team Results
1. (tie) Nixa :1 + 2 + 1 + 3 +4 +4 + 3 + 4 + 4= 25 pts
1. (tie) Ozark: 2 + 1 + 4 + 4 + 3 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 3= 25 pts
3. Webb City: 3 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 18 pts
4. Republic: 4 + 3 + 4 + 3= 14 pts
5. Branson: 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 2= 7 pts
6. Neosho: 1 pt.
7. Carthage: 0 pts.
Individual Medalists
#1 Singles: 1. Nacy, Republic; 2. King, WC; 3. York, Ozark
#2 Singles: 1. Kolb, Webb City; 2. Hendrix, Republic; 3. Bacon, Nixa
#3 Singles: 1. Furtkamp, Ozark; 2. Buzzard, Webb City; 3. Makuch, Branson
#4 Singles: 1. Gangemi, Ozark; 2. Barber, Nixa; 3. Yokley, Webb City
#5 Singles: 1. Watson, Ozark; 2. Powley, Nixa; 3. Watson, Webb City
#6 Singles: 1. Boyd, Nixa; 2. Mahnkin, Ozark; 3. Sterling, Webb City
#1 Doubles: 1. Nacy/Hendrix, Republic; 2. Gardner/Bacon, Nixa; 3. York/Furtkamp, Ozark
#2 Doubles: 1. Moore/Barber, Nixa; 2. Bandfield/Overturf, Republic; 3. Langley/Gangemi, Ozark
#3 Doubles: 1. Powley/Boyd, Nixa; 2. Mahnken/Thompson, Ozark; 3. Ruby/Coleman, Branson
