Palmerton pair advances in D-11 tennis doubles tourney

BETHLEHEM – As singles players, Palmerton’s Mattis Willuhn and Nate Andress are sensational.

Together, they’re even better.

Joining forces for the District 11 Class 2A doubles tournament, Willuhn and Andress added another chapter to an already successful season.

The pair proved to a be a perfect match on the opening day of the event at Lehigh University, powering into today’s quarterfinals with two impressive victories.

“I think it’s great. I think it’s awesome,” said Blue Bombers’ head coach Jennifer Danzeisen. “I think they’re a great team, I think they have strengths and weaknesses, and they know exactly what they are.

“So they knew how to play today, and they went in with a strategy, especially in the second match … they knew what they wanted to do, and they accomplished it. I’m so proud of them.”

Andress and Willuhn were the only team from the Times News area to reach the second round.

Pleasant Valley’s Jason Allesch and Brian Kagel picked up a first round victory in the Class 3A tournament before falling in their next match.

Four other area teams were eliminated in the first round.

Jake Ammermann and Josh Schaffner earned the No. 8 seed in the Class 3A event for the Bears but suffered a setback in their opening match.

Lehighton’s Maura Phelan and Olivia Frendt, along with Jim Thorpe’s Matt Widdicombe and Connor Rodgers, and Raymond O’Neil and Emilio Mercado, also lost in the first round in Class 2A competition,

CLASS 2A

It didn’t take long for Andress and Willuhn to click. Despite minimal time together after spending the season as the Bombers’ top two singles players, Andress and Willuhn found their rhythm quickly.

Their chemistry was evident in a 6-0, 6-0 first round win against Wilson’s Anthony DeArmas and Iggy Markow, and it carried over into a 6-4, 6-2 second round win over No. 8 seed Bobby Smolyansky and Collin Kissell of Notre Dame East Stroudsburg.

“We never played together before, really,” said Willuhn. “We knew that we are both solid players, and that we had a chance, especially against Wilson. We played them twice in our league, so we kind of knew what we should expect.

“And I think in the first match, we definitely played the way we expected to play.”

Loose and confident, Willuhn and Andress never wavered heading into the second round.

“I would say after the Wilson game, not dropping a game, we felt pretty confident going in,” said Andress. “We had a pretty good game plan for the second match; we knew what we had to do.”

Andress and Willuhn turned a 3-2 lead into a 5-2 advantage before closing out the opening set and seizing momentum.

Accomplished individually – both made it to the second round of the singles tournament – Andress and Willuhn thrived together. They picked apart Kissell and Smolyansky, who reached the semifinals in the singles tournament.

“Our strategy was obviously not to play to Bobby (Smolyansky),” said Willuhn. “That’s the nice thing about doubles, you have to play two opponents, not just the one. So we could adjust our game that we played more to his partner (Kissell), which ended up being a really good idea.”

Andress and Willuhn will play No. 1 seed Tej Laliwala and Joel Thompson of Saucon Valley in the quarters.

“We’re gonna have to play our best in the next round. We’re gonna have to play our best, and I guess we’ll see what happens,” said Andress.

“I just want to play a really good match tomorrow, and see what we can do,” added Willuhn. “Maybe we both have a great day and hit everything; who knows. That’s the nice thing about tennis, you never know. I just want to enjoy it.”

Like Andress and Willuhn, Phelan and Frendt, came together after competing as two of the Indians’ top singles players throughout the season.

After playing in the singles tournament two weeks ago, Phelan, Lehighton’s No. 1, enjoyed the opportunity to come back with Frendt.

“I definitely enjoy having a partner, it kind of keeps you grounded,” said Phelan. “There’s always that encouragement, from you or from them, to keep you focused.

“Having come here before definitely helped me relax, so I knew what I was in for.”

Phelan and Frendt worked well together in their 6-1, 6-1 loss to No. 5 seed Kyle Rich and Chase Weizer of Blue Mountain in the first round.

“It was good to get a few games,” said Phelan. “They (Rich and Weizer) definitely have a lot of skill, and a lot of discipline, too, so they really know what they’re doing when they’re out there. They’re good opponents.”

Frendt echoed those sentiments.

“It was definitely an experience just coming here, and playing against a team like Blue Mountain,” Frendt said. “Definitely having Maura there on the court helped, just having someone to play with.

“But I just came here and tried to play my game and have fun out there, that was the main goal.”

First-year Lehighton head coach Joseph Zarelli saw Phelan and Frendt excel in singles competition, and take another step in their development as a doubles team.

“I think playing together brought out a different side for them,” said Zarelli. “I think when it’s one-on-one so much of the time, they’re focusing on being harder on themselves.

“But when they have a teammate out there, it changes their mentality a little bit. And they definitely fed off of each other, and I though they gave positive energy to one another, which was really nice to see.”

Widdicombe and Rodgers drew Laliwala and Thompson in the opening round, falling 6-0, 6-0, while Mercado and O’Neil lost 6-1, 6-1 to Matt Falteich and Kyle Smedley of Bethlehem Catholic.

“I was happy I got two teams in,” said Olympians’ head coach Norb Lienhard. “The more they come down here and play in this atmosphere, they’ll take good stuff away, and it will help them in the long run.

“They surprised me with how they played all year. They never gave up. They were in every match. Even in the matches we lost, we were competitive. Every match we were competitive, it could have gone either way, a point here or a point there. I was happy with the season.”

A freshman, Rodgers will be a key part of Jim Thorpe’s plans moving forward.

“I practiced a lot in the winter, so it’s great for me to see it payoff,” said Rodgers. “For a freshman, it’s pretty cool to be able to come here.”

CLASS 3A

Kagel and Allesch opened the day with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Allen’s Shadi Eldawyati and Ngun Thawng. Kagel and Allesch were eliminated with a 6-1, 6-3 loss to East Stroudsburg South’s Cory Cox and Dmytro Petrov in the second round.

“I think it was a good day,” said Allesch. “I wish we advanced more, but you can’t be disappointed too much. I still feel like we did well, and it was an overall good day for us.”

“The second match was definitely a lot harder,” added Kagel. “But there were a lot of times where I felt like we played well. It went to deuce a lot.”

Ammermann and Schaffner, who both made it to the second round of the 3A singles tournament, lost 6-4, 6-2 to Parkland’s Nishant Chiuturu and Matthew Liu in the first round.

“It was nice having two teams here,” said Pleasant Valley head coach Mark Allison. “We ran into a buzzsaw with that Parkland team. But I’m pleased we had two teams make it. The kids played hard out there. I’m happy for Jason and Brian, they’re both seniors. I’m happy for them.

“And both our singles (Schaffner and Ammermann) made it to the Round of 16, we had a doubles team make it to the Round of 16. We were in team districts this year, so overall it’s been a really good year for us. We had the second-most wins in the history of our school. So I’m real pleased.”

SEE(D) YOU LATER? ... Several seeded teams saw their tournaments come to an end on Monday. Six of the eight seeded pairs in the Class 2A bracket made it to the quarters, while five of the top eight teams are still alive on the 3A side.

NEXT … The quarters begin at 1:30 p.m. today at Saucon Valley, with the semis to follow. The finals are Thursday at Lehigh.