Republic’s tennis team reached a milestone at the Class 3 state tournament in Springfield, as senior Gavin Collyott and freshman Lucas Riffe became the first Tigers ever to win a match at the boys state tennis tournament on Friday
The doubles team defeated Wesley Troyer and Aaron Burzynski of Francis Howell 6-2, 6-3 in the first round at Cooper Tennis Complex. After winning the first set comfortably, Collyott and Riffe built a 4-1 lead in the second set. They weathered a brief comeback attempt from their opponents, eventually closing out the match with a service break.
Republic couldn’t maintain the momentum in the quarterfinals, falling to Andrew Miller and Carter Lovitt of Park Hill 6-1, 6-3. The Tigers then dropped their consolation match against Fort Zumwalt West’s Tanner Reese and Tristan Vaughan 6-2, 7-5.
The final match proved to be the most competitive of the day. After falling behind 4-1 in the second set, Republic mounted a comeback to tie it at 5-5 before Fort Zumwalt West pulled away to close out the match.
“They hung together and showed me that they can figure things out and come back when things aren’t easy,” said coach David Smashey. “That last match, it’s probably the worst they’ve been playing in a long time and then all of a sudden we’re right in the match. And that’s just because of grit.”
Despite the two losses, the competitive showing closed out a historic doubles season for Collyott and Riffe. Smashey credited the strong partnership between the senior and freshman as a key to their success.
“From the very beginning I thought they would be good together, but I didn’t know they’d be great together,” Smashey said. “That’s really a tribute to them as not just players but people. You have a freshman and you have a senior and there’s cases where there’s friction in that kind of situation, but never from the first practice to the last match. They always hung together, they encouraged each other, they made each other better.”
Photos by David Brazeal
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