Toland nets second at 4A state tennis

PRATT — No regrets.
Iola High senior Kent Toland came up one spot short of his goal for his final year of high school tennis.
“But I have no regrets,” said a tired Toland after receiving his silver medal at the 2010 Kansas Class 4A Boys’ State Tennis Tournament Saturday at Pratt.
“When I was a sophomore watching the medals being handed out, I told my brother Scott that taking 11th two years in a row was all worth it. I knew what it was going to take from me to get in the top four at state.”
Toland was one of two undefeated players going into the 4A state tennis tournament. The other was sophomore Quinn Dippel of Smoky Valley. Dippel got the No. 1 overall seed and Toland was the No. 2 seed.
It was No. 2 against No. 1 for the 4A singles championship Saturday. Dippel cruised to a 6-0 first set win then Toland made him work a little harder.
“Dippel seemed to be in control of the match but I was in it. He only had the first set. If I get to 5-5 or take the lead in the second set, I believe I could have forced a tiebreaker,” Toland said.
Toland broke Dippel’s first serve of the second set to go up 2-0. Dippel came back to take the next three games. Toland broke Dippel again to make it 3-3.
The next four games were tough on both players. Dippel came away with three of them to win 6-0, 6-4.
“After the first set, I just went out to get to every ball and play every point. I pushed him more than anyone else did,” Toland said.
“Quinn has a great forehand. It was ridiculous and wicked. I played all out and feel good about my play.”
Toland admitted that the two-hour semifinal win over Andrew Konetzni of DeSoto took a lot out of him.
“But that’s the match I’ll remember. I have a history with Konetzni losing all four times I had faced him before. Winning the semifinal match after being down 4-0 in the first set, I’ve very happy,” Toland said.
Konetzni, a senior, had defeated Toland for fifth place in the 2009 state tournament. The two met in Saturday morning’s semifinals of the 2010 tournament.
Konetzni built a 4-0 lead in the first set. Toland held serve for the first time and broke Konetzni’s serve to make it 4-2.
Toland reeled off the next five games in the set. He won 7-5
“This was the match I wanted to win so bad. I learned a lot from my brother Scott about having a Plan B. If Plan A’s not working then go to Plan B. Scott just wanted to win enough points to win games to win the match. That’s what I did,” Toland said.
Konetzni was up 4-3 and serving when the two had one of several long deuce games — seven — before Konetzni finally won it. Konetzni broke Toland’s serve and won 6-3 forcing the two to a “super tiebreaker”.
The first player to 10 points wins, needing a two-point edge.
They stayed on serve with Toland leading 6-5. Toland broke through to take a point from Konetzni on his serve.
“It was the opening I needed. Konetzni has a great serve. I was able to hold serve throughout the third set. I knew it was all even and it was the first to 10 points,” Toland said.
“With that break, I held serve and was up 9-6. His last shot hit the tape and fell back on his side.”
Toland won 7-5, 3-6, 10-6 and moved into the championship match. Dippel had beaten Jesse Voth-Gaeddert of Hesston in his semifinal 6-3, 6-2.
Forty-five minutes later, Toland took a final look at that note card in his bag. After the match he revealed what was on it, just notes to himself.
“The most important on there are play to win and have fun. I was having fun out there today.
“I’ve had fun all season. This year I played to win instead of playing not to lose,” he said.
Another one was PWP — play with poise. Toland did that also.
Toland defeated Brett Siedl 6-1, 6-2 and Tyler Dort 6-2, 6-4 on Friday to reach the semifinals. Siedl and Dort are seniors from Valley Center.
Toland finished his senior season at 30-1. He won the Southeast Kansas League No. 1 singles championship and the Class 4A regional championship.
“I’ve had a great senior year. Having Lyle (Kern) as my coach the past two years has been tremendous. Be-fore he came back, Travis Hermstein and Becky Carlson helped me advance my game,” Toland said.
“Also my mother, who has been at every match. Scott, my brother,  played a lot of matches with me to help me and my brother Mark helped me with the mental aspects of the game. My sister Carol and her fiance were here this weekend and that’s special.”
Toland’s second place finish is the highest by an Iola High player since Alex Curry, a foreign exchange student from Brazil, was state champion in 1999. Eric Sparks finished third twice, Scott Toland was fourth.
Evan Keller, son of Billie and Allen Keller, formerly of Iola, finished fifth in the state singles competition. Keller lost to Konetzni in the quarterfinals and then beat Max Manley of Coffeyville 9-7 for fifth. Keller is a sophomore at Wellington High.
Smoky Valley won the team championship.
Iola —  just Toland — finished sixth in the team standings.
Toland finished his four years as a singles player for IHS at 114-22.