BY JEFF FALK

SOUTH LEBANON – While one streak was continuing, another one was ending.

And when one considers the overall health of the Lebanon County Scholastic Boys’ Tennis Tournament, that was probably a good thing. For it struck a balance between tradition and familiarity, and suspense and change.

On Saturday afternoon at Cedar Crest High School, during the 19th staging of the annual event, the Elco Raiders halted the host Falcons’ stretch of seven team championships in-a-row. Meanwhile, for the seventh consecutive year, a Falcon won the Flight One singles title – and the tag of ‘Lebanon County’s top player’ that accompanies it – when sophomore Colin Muraika claimed the bracket’s final match.

Muraika defeated Elco’s Adam Bahney 6-0, 7-6 (7-0) in a spirit championship bout at Flight One singles. But Bahney discovered solace in the fact that his Raiders edged Muraika and the Falcons 10-9 in the team standings.

Palmyra finished third in the team competition, followed by Annville-Cleona, Lebanon and Northern Lebanon.

“It certainly was a team effort,” said Elco head coach Zach Cook. “Ten to nine, we needed absolutely every single point. The second (flight) doubles was the key, when we were able to knock them (the Falcons) off in the semifinals. We got every single point we needed, and it was a total team effort. It was just good that we were able to do it.

“This was certainly a goal at the beginning of the season,” Cook continued. “We knew if it was going to happen any year, that it was going to be this year.”

“It’s great,” said Muraika. “You just look at that list of past winners and there’s so many good players. It’s just cool to be a part of that. I wanted to win, but especially against Adam. We go back-and-forth.

“We play a ton of tournaments and I’ve played doubles with Adam,” added Muraika. “We hit on a weekly basis. It’s really tough to play Adam because we’re such good friends.”

Muraika did not drop a game in his semifinal whitewashing, while Bahney required a tiebreaker to dismiss Pearce Clay of Palmyra, 6-3, 3-6, 10-8. Muriaka’s streak of consecutive games won reached 20 when he assumed a 2-0 lead in the second set against Bahney.

“He basically gave me the first set,” said Muraika of Bahney. “In the second set, he just kind of picked it up. I just started going to his back-hand because I wanted to out-steady him.

“I think he was feeling the pressure a little bit,” Muraika added. “He missed some serves and some ground strokes he doesn’t usually miss.”

“I feel like the very first set Adam wasn’t himself,” said Cook. “He had a grueling match against the Palmyra kid in the semifinals. Physically, Adam was fine, but he didn’t show up until the second set. Adam wasn’t as relaxed as he could’ve been. Colin was definitely more mentally sharp today and it showed in his strokes. And that can make a huge difference.

“Adam woke up (in the second set),” continued Cook. “He finally started to play within himself. He was over-hitting. He changed his approach. Colin made very few mistakes in the first set because Adam didn’t give him a chance to make mistakes.”

Bahney finally tightened his game up a bit in the middle of the second set, and because of it, he overcame a 3-1 deficit with three straight games. Bahney also won the ninth game of the second set to  assume a 5-4 edge, and the 11th game to grab a 6-5 edge.

But it was at that point where Muraika rediscovered his edge. Muriaka deadlocked the second set by claiming the 12th game, and his momentum carried over into the tiebreaker where he won seven straight points to claim the title.

“I met Adam when he was 12 and I was 11,” said Muraika. “Since then, we’ve been back and forth.

“He can crank the ball and he has a huge serve,” Muraika added. “I just try to keep the ball as deep as I can. But when he’s on, it’s tough.”

Cedar Crest also emerged with a team point at number-two singles where Muraika’s doubles’ partner Nick Tull pulled out a three-set comeback. After dropping the opening set to  Elco’s Galen McNaughton 3-6, Tull stormed back to win the second set 6-2, before claiming the tiebreaker, and match, 10-6.

“What this match shows is that we don’t have to get wins out of Adam and Galen to win,” said Cook. “We’re deep. I hope we can carry this momentum further, into some sort of postseason.”

But the key to Elco’s team victory may have been the team work in doubles, where the Raiders garnered both championships.

In the Flight One Doubles final, Raiders Tyler Arnold and Noah Ginder downed Cedar Crest’s David Mesaros and Kevin Bonalle, 6-4, 6-2. At the Flight Two Doubles title tilt, Elco’s Kurtis Brown and Josh Pfautz dismantled Eric Lynn and Julian Haghani, 6-0, 6-0.

“My guys have been working so much in the off-season, especially in doubles,” said Cook. “We thought if we could play good doubles we could take away a couple of matches from teams. There’s such good chemistry there.”

 

Lebanon County Scholastic Boys’ Tennis Tournament
Past Champions
1995: Cedar Crest

1996: Cedar Crest

1997: Cedar Crest

1998: Cedar Crest

1999: Annville-Cleona/ Palmyra

2000: Palmyra

2001: Cedar Crest

2002: Elco

2003: Elco

2004: Lebanon

2005: Elco

2006: Cedar Crest

2007: Cedar Crest

2008: Cedar Crest

2009: Cedar Crest

2010: Cedar Crest

2011: Cedar Crest

2012: Cedar Crest

2013: Elco

Flight One Champions

1995: Ben Andreozzi -CC

1996: Dave Wolfe-CC

1997: Johnny Oh-CC

1998: Brock Hoover- ELCO

1999: Brock Hoover -ELCO

2000: Stanley Kahl -ELCO

2001: Stanley Kahl -ELCO

2002: Brent Kahl -ELCO

2003: Stanley Kahl -ELCO

2004: Brent Kahl – ELCO

2005: Brent Kahl -ELCO

2006: Matt Grodzinski -NL

2007: Brad Wolfson -CC

2008: Steven Kurban -CC

2009: Weston Fortna -CC

2010: Weston Fortna – CC

2011: Weston Fortna – CC

2012: Weston Fortna – CC

2013: Colin Muraika – CC

19TH ANNUAL LEBANON COUNTY

TENNIS TOURNAMENT

at Cedar Crest

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS

1. Elco – 10

2. Cedar Crest – 9

3. Palmyra – 4

4. Annville-Cleona – 2

5. Lebanon – 1

6. Northern Lebanon – 0

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

SINGLES

FLIGHT ONE

First Round

Adam Bahney (Elco) bye

Pearce Clary (Palmyra) def. Collin Wathen, 6-1, 6-2

Thabani Ndlovu (Annville-Cleona) def. Sabien Kleinfelter (Northern Lebanon), 6-3, 6-3

Colin Muraika (Cedar Crest) bye

Semifinals

Bahney def. 6-3, 3-6, 10-8

Muraika def. Ndlovu, 6-0, 6-0

Championship

Muraika def. Bahney, 6-0, 7-6 (7-0)

 

FLIGHT TWO

First Round

Galen McNaughton (Elco) bye

Aaron Struphar (Annville-Cleona) def. Jacob Cramer (Lebanon), 6-1, 6-1

John Griffin (Palmyra) def. Kyle Tipton (Northern Lebanon), 6-0, 6-1

Nick Tull (Cedar Crest) bye

Semifinals

McNaughton def. Struphar, 6-1, 6-1

Tull def. Griffin, 6-1, 6-0

Championship

Tull def. McNaughton, 3-6, 6-2, 10-6

 

DOUBLES

FLIGHT ONE

First Round

Nico Schmedt/Julian Kapp (Annville-Cleona) bye

Kevin Bonalle/David Mesaros (Cedar Crest) def. Devon Jones/Eric Miller, 6-0, 6-0

Tyler Arnold/Noah Ginder (Elco) def. Dan Kreiser/Stephen Speer (Northern Lebanon), 6-0, 6-0

Tyler Shank/Evan Azzara (Palmyra) bye

Semifinals

Bonalle/Mesaros def. Schmedt/Kapp, 6-0, 6-3

Arnold/Ginder def. Shank/Azzara, 6-0, 6-3

Championship

Arnold/Ginder def. Bonalle/Mesaros, 6-4, 6-2

 

FLIGHT TWO

First Round

Kurtis Brown/Josh Pfautz (Elco) bye

Tim Donley/Ryan Neiswender (Cedar Crest) def. Ben Laudermilch/Kyle Schaeffer (Annville-Cleona), 6-1, 6-1

Cameron Weaver/James Sumlin (Lebanon) def. Sam Lyon/Allen Cox (Northern Lebanon), 6-2, 6-1

Julien Haghani/Eric Lynn (Palmyra) bye

Semifinals

Brown/Pfautz def. Donley/Neiswender, 6-4, 6-1

Haghani/Lynn def. Weaver/Sumlin, 6-4, 6-0

Championship

Brown/Pfautz def. Lynn/Haghani, 6-0, 6-0