ShawneeDispatch.com

Behind inspired play No. 1-singles player Andrew Storer, the Shawnee Mission Northwest boys tennis team defeated Olathe North 7-2 in a week that also featured an 8-4 loss to state powerhouse Shawnee Mission East.

On Monday, Storer's 8-7 (9-7) victory over North's Andy Schneider -- last year's No. 8-finisher at the State 6A championships -- propelled the Cougars to their decisive victory. For Northwest head coach Ken Clow, it was the most efficient tennis Storer has played yet.

"He just played the smartest tennis I've seen him play all year," said Clow. "He put the ball back in play very deeply and very seldom did he go for winners behind the baseline. He came to the net and volleyed well. On match point Andy had Andrew almost back against the fence, and Andrew was able to return it. He attacked when he was supposed to and he played defense when he was supposed to. It was an incredible match."

The Cougars' singles players almost made a clean sweep of it against the Eagles, picking up five wins in six matches. Joining Storer in the victory column were No. 3 singles player Max Wiebrecht, freshman, with an 8-6 win; No. 4 Steve Stanislav, junior, collecting an 8-6 triumph; senior Alex McMahon delivering an 8-4 win; and No. 6 Evan Thomas, sophomore, blanking his opponent 8-0 for the victory.

On the doubles side, Storer continued his winning way by teaming up with senior Brian Miller on the No. 1 team and downing the North No. 1 duo, 8-6. McMahon then combined with fellow senior Mike Richards to collect the No. 3 win, 8-1.

Thursday the road became tougher for the Cougars as they ran into perennial state force Shawnee Mission East. The Lancers proved too much for the Cougars and defeated Northwest 8-4.

Despite the loss, the Cougars were able to keep the matchup competitive and even create some memorable matches. No. 4 singles player V.J. Amin was able to win his match 8-7 (7-5) despite being down 7-3 triple match point at one time. Amin came back to win not only that game, but four more in a row (plus the tie-breaker) to earn the win. Wiebrecht collected his second singles win of the week by claiming an 8-5 triumph against East.

In doubles, Stanislav and fellow junior Sean Bennett collected a win at No. 3, 8-6. McMahon and Richards proved an impressive duo as then won their second straight, this time at No. 4 doubles, 8-6.

The interminable spate of cold, wet, and wintry weather affected the Cougars last week despite the ability to get in two matches. Cold conditions forced Northwest netters indoors for practice all week resulting in conditioning drills instead of any hitting. The Cougars Wednesday match was rained out as was Saturday's rescheduling of the Shawnee Mission District tourney. Clow expressed amazement at the weather conditions.

"I've never seen weather like this this late in April," Clow said. "Usually, the worst two weeks of the tennis season are the first few practices. This has been the worst April I've experienced."

Because of weather conditions and rescheduling, the Cougars will be in action three times this week with only one practice.