Tennis:TenBroeck, Ritger fall at state tourney

Douglas' two regional tennis champs fell during the first round of the state tournament in Reno on Friday.

Douglas junior James TenBroeck saw his bid to defend a state title fall short as The Meadows' Max Novak beat him 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-3 in the first round. The loss ended TenBroeck's 45- match win streak, dropping his career record to 71-3.

"Max played a great match," Douglas coach Rod Smith said. "He won the big points when he needed to and finished the match with a spectacular lob when James clearly had him on the ropes.

"James had a great run of victories, but now it's time to get healthy and begin a new chapter."

After TenBroeck's loss, Novak's coach appoached and said "You're a class act" to TenBroeck.

"I can't think of a bigger compliment from a coach to an opposing player than that," Smith said. "James is a class act. He competes at a very high level while showing respect to his opponent and the game of tennis. He will not call a ball out unless he's 100 percent sure.

"He will not throw his racket or hit a ball after a point in disgust. He will compliment a player's great shot and he will not offer any excuses if he loses, although he hasn't had that much experience with losing."

Amelia Ritger ended her career at Douglas with a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Coronado's Chrissy Uriarte in the first round.

Her season record was 38-3 and her final career record was 147-7 (147-4 vs. Northern Nevada opponents).