Westside tennis team has top ten finish

Boys tennis wrapped up the 2022 season with a top ten finish in the State Championships on Friday, Oct. 14. This came after a successful run in the Metro tourney the week before.

On the opening day of the Metro tournament the Warriors fulfilled all the needs of high level tennis. Westside was able to notch a string of key wins to propel three Warrior squads to their respective semifinals. The rivalry between Westside and Creighton Prep was a recurring theme, as the schools matched up in all three matches. In the number one singles draw, junior AJ Shefsky, was able to claim a finals appearance, as he was able to defeat Prep (6-3, 6-3). Both the doubles teams weren’t as lucky as they dropped their matches, but were still eligible for a third place finish on the following day.

Day two was an eventful one as it found Westside, Creighton Prep, and Elkhorn South eligible for the team title. Westside’s doubles teams both finished in third place, a valiant effort against some very talented opposition. But the main event resided in the number one singles final between Shefsky and Elkhorn South’s Andrew Nelson. Both players impressed all year and had a history of very intense and amazing finishes. This one was no different as Nelson erased Shefsky’s lead to win the final set and the title for the Storm. Westside finished in third place as a team in the Metro tournament. 

“I think I played okay in Metros,” Shefsky said. “The final came down to a few points, I wish I could have tweaked a few things in that tie break but I’m not going to dwell on that going into state.”

The Westside tennis team competed for the top spot at the State championships. Instead, due to some talented opposition, the Warriors were not able to get it done.

The struggles for the squad came in the quarterfinals in both the number one doubles and number one singles matchups.  Kugler and Evans played great all day, but were caught in the way of the top-ranked doubles team in Lincoln East. The Warriors finished in seventh place as a team, a decent result for this highly skilled squad. Shefsky was able to clinch fifth place in the number one singles and the duo of Evans and Kugler dropped to eighth place. Even though the result wasn’t what they wanted going in, the season was a successful one nonetheless.

“I think the team as a whole grew a lot this year,” said Evans. “Alex and I were a new team coming into this season and we were able to get some big wins I was really happy with.”

As the season wrapped up, the fight in the Warriors showed. Even though the loss of the seniors will be tough, this team is talented enough to make a deep run next season.