Bethel tennis teams suffer pair of semifinal defeats, reflect on landmark campaign
The men fell to McPherson while the women fell to Ottawa in Topeka last Friday.
TOPEKA — The Bethel men’s and women’s tennis teams ended their seasons this past weekend in Topeka. Both squads placed well in seeding for the KCAC postseason tournament and would’ve had semifinal matches to play this Friday, but things wrapped up sooner than they would’ve liked.
Coaches, players, and staff members across the campus in North Newton felt the defeat as the Threshers were on the verge of being champions.
The men suffered a tough defeat as the 4-seed, matched against top-seeded (and defending champion) McPherson at 9 a.m. on Friday. The match started with the doubles point nearly being won by the Threshers.
Michael Cech and Petr Kollar defeated the 15th-ranked doubles pair in the nation to steal a win at #1 doubles. But it wasn’t enough as the defeat of #2 and #3 doubles lost the doubles point. The men went on to lose, 0-4, with close losses at #1, #5, and #6 with leads in the others.
“The KCAC tournament is always special for the season because you never know if it's going to be your last match of the season or not,” junior Milan Bucek from Pelhrimov, Czech Republic said. “I'm looking forward to next season because we know we have a chance to compete against these guys. There is still lots of hard work waiting for us and it is going to be easier to overcome with this great team.”
The women got the third seed and faced second-seeded Ottawa. The doubles were clinched after a defeat to #2 and #3 doubles, and even though the #1 doubles were up, the clinch rule went into effect and the match was marked unfinished. In singles, the Threshers won at #6 to tie 1-1 in team score but then suffered losses at #2, #3, and #5 to lose the match, 1-4.
“It was full of emotions. There were tears, laughter, anger, but above all, there was happiness,” sophomore Daniela Herrera from Juarez, Mexico said. “One thing I can say is that we look forward to having very good chemistry and continuing to be united as a team like we were this season. I can’t deny that I was sad we lost but I was happy with the results of the season and the team overall.”
This season featured a considerable jump in success for the programs individually and as a team. Herrera went to the ITA Nationals in the fall, was named KCAC Player of the Year, and first-team all-KCAC. Fatima Nemi was named second-team all-KCAC and Halle Krehbiel was named honorable mention all-KCAC.
Bucek was named first-team all-KCAC and given the KCAC Sportsmanship Award. Cech was named second-team all-KCAC. Lastly, Nemi, Nalea Payton, Krehbiel, Jenna Mahoney, James Menard, Jordan Twenter, Cech, Bucek, and Tomas Quercia were named All-KCAC Scholar Athletes.
“I think the overarching thoughts for both programs would just be that it’s always hard to have both seasons end,” head coach Gabe Johnson said. “I think we played our most focused tennis on both sides over the last three weeks of the season. I think the thing I’m most excited about is that this is a growing opportunity for both teams.
“You can’t get to where you get to as competing for the conference championship without taking that step where you are competing for the matches and you’re a top-four team and I think both programs are taking that step this year. I think both programs are taking the step of ascending to the top of the conference for next year.”
The men finished 12-6 overall and 8-3 in conference play. The women finished 12-3 overall and 7-2 in KCAC action. Johnson’s crew is already looking forward to evaluating what they can improve to bring home a conference championship next year.