Spartans recover in time

Some tennis players have the knack to come from behind.

In a meet that at one point looked as though it would go down to the wire, host St. Francis (13-2) got a pair of impressive comeback victories to out-duel visiting neighbor Wheaton Academy 5-2.

After Kyle Dawson of St. Francis finished with a 6-0, 6-0 win at first singles, the second singles and third doubles matches, which could have swayed the meet to the Warriors (6-5), were very much in doubt.

At second singles, the Spartans' Jack Purdom, who was returning after two weeks on the shelf with a sprained ankle, took care of business in the first set, beating Jason Roy 6-3. But then Roy jumped out to a commanding 4-1 lead in the second set.

Purdom came back to win 7-5.

"He was missing shots in the first set," Purdom said. "But then he got more consistent by taking a little pace off the ball. I just had to zone in and focus and play my game. Sometimes I come out and I don't focus., but as soon as I get locked in I'm OK."

"It's amazing Jack even played today," said St. Francis coach Marcia Bussey. "He was on crutches for a time with a severely sprained ankle and he missed two weeks of tennis."

Nick Zito and Mike Morris had a similar focusing problem and were trailing 5-4 in the first set before making adjustments.

"I think we may have been a little distracted by the Senior Day celebration," Zito said. "Because we came out really slow on our feet. Once we started moving we got the momentum back and everything was fine."

"We always start a little slow," said Morris. "It's hard to figure out our opponents' serve right away and we get off on the wrong foot and lose a few games. But once we get going, we're really tough to beat,"

They finished off the set with a 7-5 victory and then dominated the second set 6-1.

Among the factors that got them going were good communication, Morris' strong serves and more aggressiveness at the net by both partners.

"We have to learn how to start stronger," said Zito.

Bussey agrees that Zito and Morris have to work on being more consistent from the outset.

"When they come out on the court, they know what they want to do," said Bussey. "But it takes awhile for them to size up an opponent and get into a rhythm. After we talked to them, they were able to come up and put pressure on the opponents."

Wheaton Academy coach Matt Hockett was disappointed with his team's loss after such a promising start.

"Our kids come out with energy," Hockett said. "But we struggle with finishing a team off. We have them on the ropes and we don't put them away. When the other team makes the adjustment, we don't change and we eventually lose focus."

Wheaton Academy's two points were furnished by Devin Moore and Charles West at first doubles and Danny Torres and Carson Boyd at second doubles.

Moore and West topped Sean Dougherty and Eric McKee of St. Francis in three sets, winning the first 6-3. Then they lost the second 7-6 in a 7-2 tiebreaker, and came from behind to win the super-tiebreaker 10-4.

"That was an impressive win," Hockett said. "It was a day of comebacks."