Brdicka advances to D-I tennis state semis

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Two down … two to go.

Olentangy senior Stu Brdicka was sharp Friday, winning his first- and second-round matches at the Division I Boys State Tennis Tournament to punch a ticket to today’s state semifinal at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason.

He’ll play Mason junior Niraj Komatineni for the right to compete for a state singles championship.

Brdicka, the first Olentangy tennis player to reach the state semifinals, started the day with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Lakota East senior Chris Holden before knocking off Perrysburg senior Ben Weider 6-0, 6-3 to earn a spot in the final four.

In D-I doubles action, Olentangy Orange’s Alex Heiden and Jordan Phelps won their opener over Toledo St. John’s Jesuit’s Alan Fahoury and Dev Laungani by a score of 6-4, 6-2, but fell to Sycamore’s Sam Marcus and Nathan Zhang 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the second round to see their solid seasons come to an end.

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

The Olentangy boys volleyball team picked up its first regional title in program history, rallying from a one-set deficit to knock off Olentangy Liberty 3-1 in Friday’s Division I regional championship at Westerville Central High School.

The Patriots started strong, winning the opening set 25-22, but the Braves took over from there. Olentangy won the second 25-17 before sealing the deal with respective wins of 25-15 and 25-8 in the third and fourth.

Trent Trees ran the offense with 24 assists while Jamir Benton had a team-best 11 kills in the win. Jack Spohn added six kills and six blocks, Mitch Postak chipped in 10 kills and Kurt Freeman had nine.

With the win, the Braves advance to next Saturday’s state quarterfinal at Capital.

BOYS LACROSSE

The second-seeded Olentangy Liberty boys lacrosse team fell behind early and never quite recovered as top-seeded Dublin Coffman notched a 9-5 win in Friday’s Division I, Region 1 championship at Otterbein.

The Patriots didn’t crack the scoring column until the second half, falling behind 6-0 by the break.

Johnny Wiseman scored on a failed clearance attempt to get Liberty on the board, then found the back of the net with a smooth backhander to make it a 6-2 game.

Aidan Kenley scored off a feed from Ethan Donelson to bring the Patriots within three, 6-3, but that’s as close as they would get. Coffman scored the next three to regain control on the way to the win.

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By Ben Stroup

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