Clever dominant in sweep of Parkview

The Class 1 Clever Blue Jays team cruised to a 9-0 win over Parkview (0-2) on Tuesday afternoon at Perry Tennis Courts in Springfield.

Despite frequent gusts of wind, the Jays (2-0) dominated in both the doubles and singles rounds to secure their second victory on the young season.

Clever head coach Dan Jones said, “We’re fortunate. We’ve got some really good tennis players right now who have spent a little extra time on their game. We’re hitting the ball real well right now and just trying to get ready for this season. I’m proud of the guys today.”

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS

Starting the match off with the doubles round, two Clever duos blanked their opponents. But Parkview’s No. 1 team of Benjamin Grandon and Bringman Bell managed to win one set against Clever’s Gabe Hanafin and Jakob Albright.

As for singles play, Parkview players only managed to win a couple of sets, giving Clever the points to win it all.

No. 1 seniors Grandon made Hanafin work for his point, though.

Nearing the end of the long battle, Clever head coach Dan Jones gave Hanafin a little pep talk. Soon enough, the Jay conquered Grandon 8-5.

Jones said, “He (Hanafin) takes lessons with the Drury coach. I’ve actually got three of them who do some pretty good offseason work. The rest are just pretty good athletes from their other teams and like to play tennis.”

Grandon is the only player on the Parkview team with varsity experience.

Parkview head coach Keri Nichols said, “I have six kids who have never picked up a racket before 20 days ago. We graduated pretty much the entire team last year. I knew I was going to have to get some new blood into the program, so we scoured the hallways and found some kids who were interested.”

For Nichols, this season will be a learning experience for the very young Viking team.

“It’s a big learning process for us right now,” she said. “But we got better from yesterday and that’s what we work on is just getting better match to match.”

Clever will hit the road again on Wednesday to compete in the Mount Vernon Tournament.

Parkview will play Rogersville on Wednesday.

FULL RESULTS – Clever listed first

SINGLES

Gabe Hanafin 8, 5 Benjamin Grandon

Jakob Partee 8, 2 Bringman Bell

Jakob Albright 8, 0 Curtis Johnson

Tate Hamilton 8, 2 Montgomery

Devon Hampton 8, 2 Berry

Tyler Maloney 8, 1 Alvardo

DOUBLES

Hanafin/Albright 8, 1 Grandon/Bell