BLOODHOUND TENNIS

FM doubles duos take 4th and 6th at conference meet

Benda/Davis pull 4th-place finish in boys' event in Burlington

Fort Madison Head boys tennis coach Dean Hogan talks with Bloodhounds Javean Davis and Aiden Benda before a tiebreaker set Wednesday at the Southeast Conference Invitational in Burlington.

Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

Fort Madison's Javean Davis executes a serve toss Wednesday at Dankwardt Park in Burlington as part of the Southeast Conference tournament. Davis was partnered with Aiden Benda at No. 1 doubles at the tournament. Players had to choose between doubles or singles play and couldn't play both.

Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

Fort Madison's Isaac Mason returns a ball in Wednesday's singles action at the Southeast Conference tournament at Dankwardt Park in Burlington.

Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

Posted Wednesday, May 1, 2024 7:35 pm

PCC Staff

BURLINGTON – Aiden Benda and Javean Davis captured 4^th place at the Southeast Conference boys' tennis tournament Wednesday in Burlington.
The event was originally set for Thursday, but organizers wanted to avoid projected storms and get the event in so it was moved to Wednesday which caused a conflict for some tennis players who also play golf for the Bloodhounds.
Benda and Davis started the tournament seeded 3^rd in doubles play. Players must choose whether to play singles or doubles and cannot play both.
The Bloodhounds fell behind early to Fairfield’s Ethan Cass and Ryland Anderson, who were seeded 6^th to start the day. After falling 2-6 in the first set, the two rebounded with a 6-3 win in the second set after trailing 3-2. They would then come back to win the tiebreaker 10-5.
The win put them in the semifinals against Mt. Pleasant’s Lou Schimmelpfennig and Phoenix Watson who set the Bloodhounds down 6-4, 6-4. The loss moved the Hounds into the 3^rd-place match where they tangled with Burlington’s Tomas Rascon and Thomas Fell. The Burlington duo handed Benda and Davis a 6-4, 6-2 loss to give the Hounds the 4^th place finish.
James Janic and Peyton Howard avoided a last-place finish to take 9^th after defeating Keokuk’s Raden Meier and Kole Kepper. Howard and Janic were able to put the Chiefs away 6-2, 6-2. The two were seeded 8^th coming into the tournament.
In singles action, Connor Blindt and Isaac Mason both represented the Bloodhounds. Blindt took 8^th place going 0-3 on the day due to the higher seeding. Blindt was seeded 5^th, while Mason was seeded 7^th. Mason only got two matches on the day and dropped them both 6-1, 6-2 in the opening round and 8-0 in consolation tennis.
Blindt lost his matches 6-3, 6-1, 10-8 in a close 1^st-round consolation, and lost the 7^th place after battling to an 8-8 tie, falling 8-1 in the tiebreaker.
The Lady Hounds held their conference meet in Fairfield where Alyssa Crowther and Elizabeth Tanner competed in singles, while Mady Emmett and Brook Johnson, and Lila Shepard and Lily Arnold competed in doubles play.
Tanner was seeded 9^th to start the day and almost knocked off 8^th-seeded Sophia Rule of Keokuk. Rule shut out Tanner in the first set 6-0, but needed a 7-5 win in a second set tiebreak to take the second set 7-5 and the match. Tanner then fell 9-7 to Fort Madison’s Alyssa Crowther to finish in 10^th. Crowther got to the 9^th-place match with her teammate after falling to Fairfield’s Faith Jones 6-0, 6-0.
In doubles action, Emmett and Johnson fell 6-1, 6-3 to Keokuk and then lost 8-5 to Mt. Pleasant for 10^th place which is where they were seeded to start the day. Shepard and Arnold lost their opening round match to Keokuk’s No. 4 seed team 6-0, 6-2 and then knocked off Fairfield’s No. 8 seed 8-4. They then lost to Mt. Pleasant’s No. 3 seed team 8-6 for a 6^th place finish on the day.