Stange unleashes his cement kissers!!

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Stange unleashes his cement kissers!!

September 19, 2012 by David Svien

In this photo by Wendy McCormick, Wolf coach Ken Stange (in sunglasses) and daredevil netter Ben Etzell (far right) are seen during a quiet moment. Little did anyone know Etzell would soon be going airborne.

It takes a rare mix of guts and/or stupidity to dive for a tennis ball on a cement court.

And yet there went the devil-may-care Coupeville High School netters Wednesday, delighting and/or freaking out coach Ken Stange by wantonly throwing their bodies to the court in pursuit of balls against Island arch-rival South Whidbey. The Wolves may have lost the match, falling 4-1 to the Falcons, but they proved one thing — there won’t be any easy losses this season.

“I saw something happen that I’ve never seen in a high school tennis match … and I saw it twice,” Stange said. “Two of my players dove for balls. I don’t even dive on the grass court! The CHS tennis team is top shelf all the way.”

Leading the brave and the (possibly) bleeding were Ben Etzell and Kyle Bodamer, who threw caution to the wind and sent an electric shock through anyone who thought they might get in an afternoon nap during the match.

“Ben dove for balls on the court, twice, and he made shots when he dove,” Stange said. “It was as if he were stopping a screamer on the baseball field. It was truly something to behold.

“Everyone who was watching went berserk, including me!,” he added. “It was one of the most impressive displays of effort I’ve ever seen in a high school tennis match, almost up there with the rare three-hour marathon match.”

But Stange had barely had a chance to stop hyperventilating when yet another of his players went airborne in mad pursuit of an elusive ball. Bodamer, playing in his second match of the afternoon and possibly a bit loopy by that time, went kamikaze and lived to tell about it.

“He (Kyle) is just as fierce and dedicated as Ben,” Stange said. “These baseball guys are psycho — in a good way — totally willing to leave it all on the court, literally leave bloody skin and DNA on the court. Ben and Kyle are representative of so many members of the team, willing to do it all on the court.”

Thankfully for Stange’s blood pressure (and the school’s supply of band-aids), the rest of the Wolves stayed upright throughout their matches, with Aaron Curtin doling out a sweet bit of revenge at second singles. Playing with a gritty, determined (but not knee-skinning) style, Curtin pulled out a win in a tiebreaker to avenge a loss to the same South Whidbey player who had nipped him in a match last week.

“Aaron is demonstrating how to win matches, even when he does not have his game running on all cylinders,” said a relatively calm Stange, as his eyes darted around, fearful that another of his players might decide to kiss the cement.

The netters, if they don’t kill themselves off first, return to action with back-to-back matches this weekend, traveling to Friday Harbor on Friday, then hosting University Prep Saturday.

Complete Wednesday results:

Varsity:

1st Singles — Nathan Lamb lost to Guy Sparkman 6-4, 6-3

2nd Singles — Aaron Curtin beat Charley Stelling 6-3, 3-6, 1-0(10-8)

1st Doubles — Ben Wehrman/Jason Knoll lost to Taylor Simmons/Jonathan Petersen 6-3, 6-1

2nd Doubles — Brian Norris/Brandon Kelley lost to Cameron Baldwin/Mitchell Hughes

3rd Doubles — Ben Etzell/Sebastian Davis lost to Jack Hood/Nathan Riley 6-3, 6-4

JV:

4th Doubles — Dawson d’Almeida/Shane Squire lost to Kyle Simchuk/Campbell Albertson 8-1

5th Doubles — Kyle Bodamer/Jake McCormick lost to Chase Collins/Sam Turpin 8-1

6th Doubles — Cameron Boyd-Eck/Loren Nelson lost to Connor McCauley/Stryder Elverum 8-3

7th Doubles — Zane Bundy/Connor McCormick beat Jacob Nelson/Austin Drake 8-6