Ada lands two on tennis list

Bob Forrest Guest Sports Writer Ada Evening News

Ada —  Success didn’t spoil Ada’s Chase Sheffield.

Sheffield, who began his varsity tennis career with a runner-up finish in No. 2 Doubles as a freshman and finished it as part of the two most successful AHS boys teams of this decade, was named Friday to the East All-State squad. He joins Ada girls No. 1 Doubles player Erica Poe as this year’s All-State representatives from a program that has been one of the most successful in Oklahoma under coach Skip Griese for the past two-plus decades.

The games will be played Tuesday, July 27 at 5:30 p.m. at the University of Tulsa.

Fifth at state after moving to No. 1 Doubles as a sophomore, Sheffield teamed with another Ada All-Stater, Brandon Russell, for a clutch third-place finish at last year’s state tournament that lifted the Cougars into a tie for second in the team standings. This year, he was third again — this time with new partner, John Stout — as Ada finished alone in second place behind Bishop Kelley.

“Each year at the state tournament, Chase only lost one match,” said Griese, whose boys squad advanced all six players to the semifinals at last week’s state tournament for the first time since his 1998 team captured the state title. “Chase is an exceptional doubles player, with both the mental and physical game to compete.

“This year’s team EARNED second place,” Griese said. “Everybody had crucial matches during the tournament that they had to win, and they did.”

Sheffield and Stout, who beat the Tulsa Washington duo of Maurice Colbert and Patrick Turner in a three-set marathon in the third-place match at the state tournament, finished the season 22-6.

Poe and partner Madison Whitworth posted back-to-back, fifth-place finishes in No. 1 Doubles at the state tournament on a rebuilding AHS girls squad in 2009 and again this spring on a team that wound up fourth in the team standings.

“Erica had an extremely good career,” Griese said of Poe, who teamed with Whitworth to post a 26-9 record this spring and to win regional titles in both 2009 and 2010. “She played four years, and she played on the second day for points every year.

“Both (Sheffield and Poe) deserved the honor,” he added. “They represented Ada well, and I’m extremely proud of them.”

Cougars Claim 5A Regional Championship

Ada — Monday’s Results

Class 5A Regional Tournament

At Ada Tennis Center

Team Standings

1. Ada    36

2. McAlester    26

3. Durant    23

4. Tulsa Edison    19

5. Collinsville    15

6. Skiatook    14

7. Tulsa East Central    11

SINGLES

1. Robert Jackson (Ada) def. Ethan Ferguson (Durant), 6-3, 6-3 (Championship).

2. Matthew Medcalf (Ada) def. Devon Leone (McAlester), 6-1, 6-2 (Championship).

DOUBLES

1. Chase Sheffield/John Stout (Ada) def. Chris Burns/Tucker Olson (McAlester) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 (Championship).

2. Drew Burkhart/Matt Robinson (Ada) def. Jones/Sandoval (Tulsa Edison), 6-1, 6-3 (Championship).

NOTEWORTHY: The Cougars swept their way to the regional championship as all four entries won regional championships. Robert Jackson (No. 1) and Matthew Medcalf (No. 2) won singles titles, while Chase Sheffield/John Stout (No. 1) and Drew Burkhart/Matt Robinson (No. 2) did so in doubles action.

COACHES QUOTE: “Winning regionals is always nice, but sweeping regionals is always nicer.” — Ada head boys coach Skip Griese.

Up next: Ada boys at Class 5A State Tournament, Friday and Saturday at Will Rogers Tennis Center in Oklahoma City.

Ada Tennis Capsules

Ada — Saturday’s Results

BOYS

At Duncan Tournament

Team Standings

1. Jenks    56

2. P.C. North    55

3. Ada    54

(15 Teams Competed)

SINGLES

1. Chris Hayworth (P.C. North) defeated Robert Jackson (Ada) 6-2, 6-0 (Championship)

2. Matthew Medcalf (Ada) def. Jeremy Nygen (Norman North) 6-2, 6-2 (3rd Place)

DOUBLES

1. Chase Sheffield-John Stout (Ada) def. Hank Hudson-Josh Wehnerbers (Guthrie) 6-4, 6-2 (3rd Place)

2. Leach-Mathis (Jenks) def. Drew Burkhart-Matt Robinson (Ada) 6-1, 6-2 (Championship)

NOTEWORTHY: The Ada boys finished third in the team standings but were only two points behind first-place Jenks. The Trojans tallied 56 points compared to 55 for Putnam City North and 54 for the Cougars Both Robert Jackson (No. 1 Singles) and the team of Drew Burkhart and Matt Robinson (No. 2 Doubles) reached championship matches at the tournament.

COACHES QUOTE: “Today was a pretty good showing. We battled the wind all day. We’re getting ready for Shawnee next week and then the regionals in May,” — Ada head coach Skip Griese.

Ada Tennis Results

David Seeley Guest Sports Writer Ada Evening News

Ada — Friday’s Results

At Ada Tournament

BOYS

Team Standings

1. Edmond North    55

2. Edmond Memorial    53

3. Jenks    49

4. Putnam City North    46

5. Tulsa Union    45

6. Heritage Hall    42

7. Enid    36

8. Ada    34

(A total of 16 teams competed)

SINGLES

1. Bryson Dabney (Broken Arrow) def. Robert Jackson (Ada) 1-6, 7-5, 10-6 (5th Place)

2. Matthew Medcalf (Ada) def. Patrick Sims (Broken Arrow) 6-2, 6-2. (Consolation Championship)

DOUBLES

1. Chase Sheffield/John Stout (Ada) def. Bradley-Coburn (Muskogee) 3-6, 7-6, 12-10 (Consolation Championship)

2. Acceneaux-Shear (Heritage Hall) def. Drew Burkhart-Matt Roberson (Ada) 6-3, 6-3 (5th Place)

NOTEWORTHY:In the loaded boys group, Ada finished a respectable eighth, betther than half the teams in the field. No. 1 Singles player Robert Jackson and the No. 2 Doubles team of Drew Burkhart and Matt Roberson both finished sixth for the Cougars.

Up Next: Ada at Claremore Tournament Tuesday, 8 a.m.

Ada boys net second at state

OKLAHOMA CITY — With the Ada boys tennis squad on the verge of undoing all the good work it had done in winning eight straight matches Friday to open the Class 5A state tennis tournament, the No. 1 Doubles team of Brandon Russell and Chase Sheffield saved what was almost a lost Saturday for the Cougars.

Russell and Sheffield, who played only 15 matches together this spring but won 12, bounced back from a 6-1, 6-1 thumping at the hands of eventual state champions Reider Hunt and Daniel Collins of Bishop Kelley to post an impressive 6-4, 6-2 victory over the No. 2-seeded Claremore duo of Blake Watson and Andrew Meredith in Saturday’s third-place match. The win enabled Ada — which advanced its entire team to the semifinals for the first time since the 1998 squad won the state title — to finish with 21 points and in a tie for second with Bishop McGuinness in the team standings behind the 34 points posted by runaway winner Bishop Kelley.

“It was a day-and-night tournament for us,” veteran Ada coach Skip Griese said Saturday after seeing his boys squad wrap up its first runner-up finish since 2006. “We played very well yesterday and not today, but to come out of this with a second will be a very good tournament. Some people had us ranked at nine in preseason and we finished second. We were seeded in the (state) tournament fourth or fifth.”

Ada needed the big effort from Russell and Sheffield to finish in a tie for second in the team standings after John Byrne of McGuinness beat Ada’s Robert Jackson, 6-1, 6-3, in No. 1 Singles; the McGuinness No. 2 Doubles team of Jake Brown and Ryan Randolph beat the Ada duo of Matt Robinson and Matthew Wright, 6-3, 6-4; and Bradley Toone of Duncan rallied past Ada’s Matthew Medcalfe, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, in No. 2 Singles.

Griese said the formula used to seed the state tournament — which put Ada No. 4 and on the same side of the bracket as Bishop Kelley — was the only reason Russell and Sheffield didn’t play in the championship match instead of for third place.

“I thought going into the tournament we were the second best team in One Doubles, but we were seeded fourth,” Griese noted. “Being the fourth seed, we were on the same side as Bishop Kelley and had to play them in the semifinals.”

Ada trailed 2-1 in the first set before Russell and Sheffield went on a roll that saw them win 11 of the final 15 games in the match. Each team held serve through the first six games of the opening set before Ada broke Watson’s serve in the seventh game, winning four of five points. Sheffield started the game with a long cross-court return of a second serve, and Russell wrapped up the break with a baseline winner, again on a second serve.

Russell then held serve, winning the eighth game with an ace on, of all thing, a second serve, and after Meredith held serve to pull Claremore to within 5-4, the Zebras took the first point in the 10th game before the Cougars came back to take the game and the set on an overhead smash by Russell following a strong first serve by Sheffield.

The teams swapped service breaks in the first four games of the second set, with Ada moving in front 2-1 when Russell’s forehand smash from the baseline handcuffed Meredith at the net, and Claremore tying it on Meredith’s cross-court winner at the net. From there, though, it was all Ada.

Watson double-faulted to give Ada a sloppy fourth game that featured two unforced errors by each team, then Russell registered a pair of aces in the sixth game to hold serve and put the Cougars up 4-2.

Russell put a punctuation mark on Ada’s third service break of the net when he again handcuffed Meredith at the net with a rocket off his forehand from the baseline, and Sheffield held serve in the sixth game to wrap up the match, with Russell showing some finesse on a beautiful drop shot at the net at match point.

The dominant performance by Russell and Sheffield in the third-place match was quite a contrast from their semifinal effort against Bishop Kelley. Hunt and Collins won the final four games in each set and lost two points in the final two games of the second set. The two lefties frustrated the Ada duo with strong returns of their best shots and consistently strong work at the net.

Jackson, who was the only member of the Ada team who didn’t have to play a three-set quarterfinal match Friday to advance, was inconsistent with his first serve against Byrne, who charged the net whenever possible and kept the pressure on throughout the match.

After Jackson broke Byrne’s serve to open the first set, Byrne won the next six points to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The turning point in the opening set came in a marathon fourth game, which went to deuce seven times before Jackson missed on an overhead backhand, firing the ball into the net to give Byrne the service break and a 3-1 lead in the set. Byrne had spoiled Jackson’s advantage twice earlier in the set, forcing deuce with an overhead smash and, after one of Jackson’s eight aces in the match, the McGuinness lefty fired a passing shot by Jackson from the baseline to again send the game to deuce.

Byrne then breezed through the rest of the set, winning 12 of the final 16 points, and after Jackson recorded four aces in winning the first game of the second set, Byrne won eight of the next nine points, breaking Jackson in the third game to take a 2-1 lead.

Jackson won four of the final five points in the fourth game to break Byrne serve, Byrne broke back in the next game and held his serve the rest of the way to wrap up the victory.