SLUH Tennis has been seeing red lately. The Red Devils, to be more specific. After cruising to an easy 8-1 win against Chaminade in their regular season matchup last week, the Jr. Bills were forced to overcome a reinvigorated Chaminade team again on Tuesday to take their second straight MCC conference title. 

The two wins mark the end of the 2022 regular season for the tennis team. After starting 1-4 against tough opponents early, SLUH found their stride later in the season to bring their final record to 6-5. The surge of wins came against MCC schools later in the schedule. 

Capping off the hot streak was the MCC Tournament, which featured two doubles brackets and four singles brackets filled with players from all five conference schools. SLUH went in expecting to do well, as head coach Brian Kirk boasts a nearly undefeated record in conference play. Plus, the Jr. Bills won the trophy last year thanks to senior Gus Tettamble’s singles dominance and a win in the top doubles bracket from senior Jake Marison and junior Josh Lombardi. 

This year, Tettamble’s singles dominance was the same, as he won 8-0 in his first round against a CBC opponent and then took the title in straight sets against De Smet, but the doubles success was not. Senior Henry Dowd and Lombardi, playing No. 1 doubles, and seniors Nathan Rich and Jake Marison, playing at No. 2 doubles, both lost their doubles finals matches to Chaminade opponents. 

With two gold medals given up to Chaminade and doubles scoring weighted higher than singles, SLUH needed a strong performance in singles to win the tournament. Luckily, things were clicking below Tettamble. Junior Luke Gund took first in the No. 2 singles bracket and sophomore James Holcomb did the same at No. 3 singles. Senior Niko Nadreau, rounding out the singles players at No. 4, ended the day on a high note for SLUH. With his back against the wall in the finals after losing the first set 9-7 in a tiebreak, Nadreau went on to beat his Chaminade opponent in the second and third sets, securing Nadreau’s gold medal and the team win for SLUH. 

“I started to get really frustrated. The guy I played was getting everything back,” Nadreau said. “After the first set, though, I started to calm down and regain some momentum.”

After closing out his season against Chaminade, Tettamble accomplished a feat that pretty much everyone could have predicted: an undefeated season in both tournament and regular season play. There were a few close calls, like in the first round of the Edwardsville tournament when Tettamble dropped the first set 1-6 and had to rally back, but after 11 matches, he never tasted defeat. It’s an impressive stat, one Tetamble worked hard to achieve.

“I put a lot of work in since the start of last season, it really left a bad taste in my mouth,” he said. “I've been practicing and it’s paying off now so that's been really fulfilling.”

Now, just like last week, the Jr. Bills are keeping close tabs on Marquette. A win against the Mustangs will likely punch their ticket to state. Team discussions have led to a new lineup against Marquette, a lineup very different from the one that opened the season. With new doubles partners, the team will hope to get off to a better start, especially from the new No. 3 team of Gund and Marison.

“The first time we played them we lost pretty handily but that was our first game of the season,” admitted Tettamble. “But the guys on our team have only gotten better and more mature as players. With our new lineup we have more experience in the back half of the lineup which is crucial.”

SLUH will play in the team District Tournament next week. In the meantime, the Jr. Bills will compete in the individual bracket today after school. Tettamble is expected to win, and Dowd and Lombardi could make a run in the doubles tournament if the bracket falls their way.