Likely the biggest turnaround in Mingus Union High School sports this spring has been made by the boys tennis team.
The Marauders improved to 7-2 on the year and 2-1 in Division II, Section II play with a 9-0 win over Flagstaff High School on March 27. After turning 1-13 records in each of the last two seasons, the work put in those two years is beginning to pay off.
One thing that has put the team, ranked No. 16 in the Division II poll as of Friday, March 30, over the edge, head coach Larry Lineberry said, is confidence.
“The guys are mentally tougher. They get behind, you saw Jordan [Finger] lose the first set 7-5 [against Flagstaff], and he won. He’s done that twice this year,” Lineberry said. “Now we’ve got some wins behind us, and they feel like they can win when it’s a tough situation. In previous years they hadn’t played enough to be able to feel that way, and they hadn’t won enough, so now their sense is ‘I can win this match,’ and that lets you stay free and swinging free. You don’t get tight, you don’t get nervous, and you are in a much better position to win matches.”
Two of the team’s wins have come down to the last match of the day. Mingus beat Prescott High School, one of its rivals in tennis, 5-4 on March 7. On March 5, at home against Lee Williams High School, it resulted in another 5-4 victory. The deciding match came down to the No. 6 singles match. To complete the three-match sweep during that week, the Marauders went to Dysart High School and won 7-2.
Aside from the two aforementioned one-point wins, they have won by a score of either 7-2 or 9-0. Their two losses came against No. 9 Sunrise Mountain High School [7-2] and against No. 6 Notre Dame Preparatory High School [9-0].
“We’ve had a remarkable start, I couldn’t be more pleased,” Lineberry said. “The only teams we’ve lost to were much better than us, and we’re beating teams we lost to last year. We’ve had close wins, but we’re winning. The work we put in the last two years is starting to pay off, they’re becoming match tough and consistent, which is the most important thing in tennis.”
Last season, Mingus lost to Flagstaff 8-1. This year it swept the Eagles [0-3, 0-2 Division II, Section II], and one of the standout matches of the day coming at No. 4 singles. Marauders junior Jordan Finger lost the first set 5-7 before winning the second 7-5 and the tiebreaker 10-6.
That victory by the second-year player was an example of what an impact confidence has made on the team.
“It felt really great. I lost the first set but knew I would come back,” Finger said. “I won five straight games. I knew I was improving throughout the match. In the second set I was down three games but came back.”
Marauders senior Pedro Cremasco, the team’s No. 1 player, won his singles match 6-0;7-5. No. 2 John Valentine won 6-2;6-3, No. 3 Brigham Peterson won 6-2;6-3, No. 5 Crue Taylor won 6-1;6-2 and No. 6 Travis O’Donnal won 7-6;7-6.
In doubles, the No. 1 pairing of Cremasco and Peterson won 8-3 while the No. 2 pairing of Finger and Taylor and the No. 3 team, Valentine and O’Donnal, both won 8-2.
Five matches remain on the Marauders’ schedule, all in section play. Lineberry believes that should they win at least three of them, they have a good shot of qualifying for the state tournament as a team.
The first of the five was on Tuesday, April 3, at home against Deer Valley High School, but results were unavailable at press time. The next match is at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 5, at
No. 17-ranked Bradshaw Mountain High School.
