Rock Bridge tops Helias

Jon-Eric Meyer wasn’t happy with the way he acted on the court, but he was happy with his win.

Ben Loeb, the Rock Bridge tennis coach, found no reason to be upset with his team’s 7-2 victory against Helias at Bethel Park on Thursday. The Bruins improved to 2-0.

“I thought they did well,” Loeb said. “In singles, we had some real tough matches up top, especially No. 1 and No. 2 singles.”

Meyer said he became frustrated a few times during his 1-6, 6-3, (12-10) victory against Matt Schlueter in the No. 1 match.

“I got frustrated,” Meyer said. “He was playing well. I let my emotions get the best of me and when that happens your game tends to go down.”

After losing the first set, Meyer came back but struggled and missed easy points. One time Meyer had an open shot at a high lob but put it out of bounds.

“That was me being mentally loose,” Meyer said. “I obviously wasn’t focused like I should have been.”

Meyer’s frustration was apparent. He often yelled out or talked to himself after close points.

“I prefer to keep it more inside but today, like I said, my emotions got the best of me,” Meyer said. “I’m usually not that verbal.”

Even though frustrated, Meyer had fun on the court. During one volley, Meyer dived to the ground to return a hit and save the volley. In the end, the point went to Schlueter, but Meyer enjoyed it.

“Those are the type of points you live for,” Meyer said.

There were other close matches that didn’t go the Bruins’ way. In the No. 2 match, Rock Bridge’s Matt Dresner lost to Andy LeRoy 3-6, 7-5, (10-8).

The match was close and a few times the two players argued about whether a ball was in or out. LeRoy pulled out the victory in the end.

“We were right there and had our chances to win it but it could have gone either way,” Loeb said. “To their guy’s credit, he came on strong and won the last several points of the match tiebreaker.”

Dresner was also involved in a close doubles match. He and Justin Winner lost to Matt Schlueter and Scott Schlueter 3-6, 7-6, (10-6).

After going up 3-1 in the second set, Dresner and Winner seemed to have the game won. Double faults and miscommunication hurt them later in the match. The Schlueters rallied to win the tiebreaker and set.

In the match tiebreaker, Dresner and Winner again tied the score at 6 but couldn’t hold off the Schlueters and lost the next four points.

Loeb said that type of game is disappointing to lose.

“I think the closer, it is the more difficult it is to take it when it doesn’t go your way,” Loeb said.