Junior nets No. 1 singles crown
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Chris Seitz focused on his conditioning in the offseason, and it paid off as he became the first Hun School first singles champion in three years.
The Raiders junior outlasted Blair’s Noah Joachim, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 Saturday to claim the top position in the Prep A state tournament. Seitz and Joachim had split their previous two meetings, with Seitz winning early in the year and Joachim taking their Mid-Atlantic Prep League tournament title match.
”It was definitely a good way to finish off the season,” Seitz said. “That last match was the toughest out of all of them. It was good to stay strong and finish it out.”
Seitz had reached the Mercer County Tournament final as well as the MAPL final, and the state championship was his first title of the season.
”It comes down to fitness,” said Hun head coach Todd Loffredo. “It was really hot and I think that helped Chris. He is in really good shape so the length of the match and the (hot) weather didn’t affect him. He mixed up his shots. He was picking up his pace, and he hit some drop shots. And he picked his spots when he was serving.
”Also, he said he didn’t have any pressure. The Blair kid definitely did. If the Blair kid had won, Blair would have won the states. They didn’t, so they tied Lawrenceville.”
Seitz credited his offseason work with helping him win the flight. He came back to school 10 pounds lighter and stronger after his sophomore year.
”It was always something that I’ve tried to work on,” said the Pennington resident. “Over the summer, I played a lot on clay and it really helped me. Even staying in shape through the winter, it was the most important thing. Everyone can hit with everyone. The only thing holding me back was staying in shape and my footwork.
”Going to practices every single day and doing stuff outside of practice, it really helped me a lot,” he added. “It really helps. I can really see a difference every single day.”
In the final, it came into play when Joachim started to cramp up by the end of the second set.
”I think it was 6-5, when I saw he had trouble moving to his left side, his backhand side,” Seitz said. “The third set, he had a lot of trouble. I didn’t focus on him cramping, I just kept doing what I was doing at the end of the second set and kept attacking.”
Seitz was the lone Hun player to reach a final. He beat Tim Rosensteel of Peddie, 6-3, 6-2, in the semifinals.
”My freshman year, I think I lost first round to Chris Rosensteel,” Seitz said of Rosensteel’s brother, who eventually won the state title. “Then last year, we did a double round robin. It was pretty informal. It wasn’t the format we did this year and freshman year.”
Seitz went into the state tournament expecting to see Joachim again. Their semifinal wins set up the ultimate grudge match with the state title on the line.
”With Noah, I knew we’d both played each other before and it was going to be a close match,” Seitz said. “I just tried to play the way I normally play and focus on my strong points and attack his weaknesses.
”This was totally different. The first time I played him, I’d been playing really well and my serve was on and I got a lot of free points. This time around, it was much more even. We had longer points. It was seeing who was playing good at the right moments.”
The longer the match went, the better that he felt about his chances. Loffredo was confident in Seitz going into the tournament.
”We had about a week off because of this rain,” Loffredo said. “He played twice indoors, but I think it was better for everyone to have a little bit of a break and knowing this was the last match of the year. I thought he had a good chance.”
Added Seitz: “I was confident in the way I was moving and the shape I was in. I could see he was hurting late in the second set. I kept keeping the ball in play and making him hit one more shot.”
Seitz is the first singles champion from Hun since Lance Goulbourne won in 2008. The win sets Seitz up for his final year with the Raiders.
”I think it gives him confidence going into tournaments for the summer too,” Loffredo said. “I don’t know if this is the catalyst, but the next couple months of tournaments are big for recruiting, so this was like the cherry on the top going into recruiting for college this summer.”
Seitz is looking forward to a big summer when he can show he’s at a high level in order to play at the next level.
”It’s always good to have confidence going into the summer,” Seitz said. “That’s what I’m trying to do is play a lot of big tournaments and get to a lot of college coaches. It’ll be good to prove to the coaches that I can play top tennis.”
Topping Joachim when it mattered most was an important win for the Seitz. It showed he could adjust his game and win a feature match.
”Last weekend, he came out really aggressive in the first set,” Seitz said. “This time around, he played really well in the first set. I knew he won just because of my errors. I stayed a lot more consistent. My coach gave me good advice. I got a break in the second set and it helped me stay with him. There were a couple points late in the second set that helped me finish it out.”
Thanks to his improved fitness, Chris Seitz earned a championship finish to his third year with the Hun boys tennis team.
”It was really successful,” he said. “It was my best season yet so far.”