Rea picks up consolation win at state tennis

Saturday, May 22, 2021
Nevada High School junior Evan Rea runs up on a ball during the MSHSAA Class 1 singles tennis tournament Friday at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield.
Photo by Hank Layton | Daily Mail Sports Reporter

SPRINGFIELD — If Nevada High School junior Evan Rea had any expectations going into his first trip to the state singles tennis tournament on Friday, they were violated almost immediately — and only compounded from there.

First, it rained. That meant, instead of playing outside on any of the seemingly countless pristine courts of the Cooper Tennis Complex, the MSHSAA Class 1 tournament was moved indoors, where Rea had never played a match before.

Then, not knowing which of the eight indoor courts he’d be playing on, and unable to practice on any of them, Rea was suddenly ordered to get to court no. 1 on the other side of the complex.

Last, though certainly not least, he met his opponent.

“I didn’t expect him to be that good,” said Rea, who had the unfortunate luck of drawing in the first round the likely eventual state champion, Barstow’s Richard King, a nationally ranked junior who fired off several aces and forehand winners en route to quick 6-0, 6-0 win to send Rea into the consolation bracket. “I figured, even if I lose 6-0 in the first set, I can still get back in it in the second set. But all of a sudden, I looked up and I was down 4-0. Honestly, I just looked at the coaches and said there’s nothing I can do. But I was still going to try my best.”

Rea wasn’t the only one unable to dethrone King. Greenwood’s Nathanael Fletcher lost every game to him, as well, setting up a semifinal match Saturday against Whitfield’s Daniel Radke.

NHS junior Evan Rea (right) and head coach Clayton Wheeler (middle) listen to the words of assistant coach Lex Blue during the Class 1 state tennis tournament Friday in Springfield.
Photo by Hank Layton | Daily Mail Sports Reporter

Rea, meanwhile, got a chance to redeem himself in the consolation bracket — and was at least able to leave the state tournament able to say he won a match on the big stage.

“Him and I had the discussion of, ‘Okay, now we’re back in this. This is what we got to do. You can still get fifth if you work at it. New match. New game. New tournament,'” said NHS head coach Clayton Wheeler, who announced earlier this month he would not be returning to the position next year, but was able to cap off his 13-year tenure by watching Rea beat Chillicothe junior Chace Corbin 6-3, 6-3. “He’s a mentally strong player, and that has saved him through several matches. It’s probably his greatest asset on the tennis court. He’s able to focus. He knows what he should do.”

After a long break, Rea rebounded from his loss to King by breaking Corbin’s serve in the first game of their match.

Corbin came back, though, eventually tying the opening set at 2-2 — before Rea got his forehand and volleys working to win four of the next five games and take a 1-0 set lead.

Rea then went up 5-0 to start the second set, but Corbin rallied (much like he did in his first match against Fletcher) to win the next three games. Rea squeaked out the ninth game, though, highlighted by a volley winner after a long rally to tie it at 30-30. Corbin committed back-to-back unforced errors to give the match to Rea.

“That felt good. That guy I played wasn’t bad at all, and I feel a lot of the mistakes I made were by myself,” said Rea, who took some time adjusting to the indoor setting. “One thing I noticed, I’m used to hitting with a little wind. So, my shots would go long, and when I tried shortening them up, they hit the net. It was kind of confusing. It’s definitely different. I’m still adjusting to playing inside. It’s weird not having any wind at all, especially on serves.”

In another instance of bad luck, Rea advanced to face Barstow’s no. 2 player, Sunil Reiland, in the consolation quarterfinals. Reiland won 6-0, 6-1, ending Rea’s season with a record of 20-4.

Rea puts his coaches' advice to use during his 6-3, 6-3 win over Chillicothe's Chase Corbin during consolation bracket play. Rea finished 1-2 on the day and 20-4 on the season.
Photo by Hank Layton | Daily Mail Sports Reporter

Afterward, Rea, Wheeler, assistant coach Lex Blue, and the small group of supporters who made the trip to watch couldn’t help but wonder if Rea’s day could have turned out much differently had he drawn a different first-round opponent.

“That’s quite possible. But regardless of the results, what I hope he takes away is: he’s at state tennis. As far as I know, there’s no boys tennis player from Nevada that can say that,” Wheeler said. “I know he’s going to be disappointed about that first match for a while, probably a little disappointed about how he played, even though he won, in that last match. When he comes back next year, he’ll already have that experience with that kind of play, and next round, that shouldn’t affect him as much.”

And who knows? Maybe in 2022 Rea will be the one violating some newcomer’s expectations.

“The first round was kind of like a shell-shock. Kid came out pounding that tennis ball, and I don’t think Evan was quite prepared for the level of how hard he was going to pound that ball. I think a lot of people were surprised,” Wheeler said. “State’s a different ballgame than we’re used to seeing. There’s going to be kids on whole different levels here, and we saw that first round. Draws happen like that sometimes. They’re unfortunate. They are what they are.”

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