Spartans' Dawson out for year

It was supposed to be his opening match of the high school tennis season for St. Francis junior Kyle Dawson.

Instead the two-time state qualifier was on the sidelines encouraging his teammates Wednesday as they were defeated 6-1 by host Neuqua Valley.

Dawson, who injured his right elbow in a USTA tournament in Wisconsin two weeks ago, will miss the entire high school season. The injury, a partial ligament tear, will be evaluated in six weeks and, if it doesn't require surgery, he should be playing tennis again this summer.

"At the end of a first serve, I heard a pop," said Dawson, who finished 17-32 at state last year. "I couldn't serve after that, or even move my arm very much. I'm hoping I don't need surgery. The doctor doesn't think so. He thinks I'll have a full recovery, but it will take time."

To stay in shape, Dawson is doing a lot of running and lower body weight lifting.

"The positives are that the injury could have been lot worse," he said. "And I still have my senior year to play for St. Francis. If this happened my senior year it would be a whole different story."

So the No. 1 singles for the Spartans is serving as an informal coaching assistant, showing his commitment to his teammates and the St. Francis tennis program.

"This has really been difficult for all of us," said St. Francis coach Marcia Bussey. "But Kyle is still so involved with the team. He knows so much and he comes to every practice. We're hoping that he doesn't need surgery, that rest will take care of it."

Tommy Castronovo, who won the challenge match competition for Dawson's No. 1 spot, was part of the Suburban Catholic Conference champion second-doubles team last year.

"I was thinking doubles this year," Castronovo said. "But I changed when Kyle got hurt. First singles is new to me. I'll be going against better players and that should improve my game."

Dawson believes Castronovo will do well this year.

"He's very consistent," Dawson said. "He hits a lot of balls in and its tough for anybody to play because against him because he doesn't miss a lot."

Even though the Spartains lost 6-1, Bussey was encouraged by the performance of her re-shuffled lineup.

Spencer Angsten, who competed for Dawson's position, scored St. Francis' only point with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 win over Brian Glavin of Neuqua Valley.

"Spencer is a fighter," Bussey said. "He plays with enthusiasm and excitement. He's got a good shot selection and he's confident."

Michael Vale (the third challenger for No.1) and his partner Grant Conner went down to the wire before falling to Andy Frandsen and Tim Worley 5-7, 7-6 (10-6)

The Neuqua doubles team of Chase Perry and Skeeter Plowman, who finished top 12 in state last year, won their first doubles match 6-0, 6-0