London — At the start of the season, Kaleb Farver and Noah Shemenski filled different roles for Worthington Christian. Farver played singles while Shemenski competed in doubles.
About five matches into the season, the two were paired together after a teammate became ill. This twist of fate paid off Tuesday afternoon when they clinched a district tournament berth by advancing to the semifinals of the London Sectional.
“We had no team bonding prior to playing together,” Shemenski said. “We even had kind of a rivalry in singles. But our gameplay is perfect for each other in doubles, and it almost created instant chemistry.”
Entering the sectional tournament, Farver and Shemenski were 10-2 while rotating between first and second doubles. They opened Tuesday with a 6-0, 6-0 victory before taking on Grandview Heights’ Sam Russell and Jonah Snyder in the quarterfinals.
Farver and Shemenski cruised past Russell and Snyder 6-2, 6-1, advancing to Saturday’s sectional semifinals at Columbus Academy while clinching a district tournament berth at Upper Arlington next week.
Not long ago, Farver preferred singles and had little knowledge of the OHSAA postseason structure.
Now, the freshman is heading to districts in doubles.
“I liked doing singles a lot and I thought doubles was terrible,” Farver said. “When I was put with Noah, it was super fun because when I made mistakes he was there to support me. Plus, I’m a freshman, so I didn’t even know we had this tournament.”
After Tuesday’s victories, the duo will face teammates Matthew Paul and Dylan Decker in Saturday’s sectional semifinals at Columbus Academy.
Luke Stone Rolls, Ethan Bourgeois Battles
In singles, Luke Stone advanced to Saturday’s sectional semifinals with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Sean Gluntz followed by a 6-1, 6-0 win against Jordan Buckland.
The sophomore improved to 16-3 this season and will meet Connor Kuttras in Saturday’s semifinals at Columbus Academy, already having secured a spot in next week’s district tournament at Upper Arlington.
Freshman Ethan Bourgeois battled through two three-set matches Tuesday. After dropping the opening set to Grandview’s Luca Reo, Bourgeois rebounded to take the next two sets and advance to face Connor Kuttras, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Bourgeois opened with a 6-3 win over Kuttras before dropping the next two sets, 3-6, 1-6, in a three-set loss that ended his postseason run. He showed flashes of composure and strength that indicate a bright future for Worthington Christian.
In total, Worthington Christian will send two doubles and one singles to Upper Arlington next week for the district tournament.
All season stats noted are courtesy of Ohio Tennis Zone.
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