Sophomore Graham Buck came back from a seemingly insurmountable 7-2 deficit to win an 8-7 decision at Line 2 Singles.

The varsity tennis team improved to 7-0 in dual meet play with a 6-1 win over St. Martin’s on Tuesday, March 17, at the UNO Tennis Center.

Play started with the singles competition, and the Blue Jays jumped out to a 2-0 lead after sophomores Jack Steib and Trey Hamlin won 8-0 and 8-1 on Lines 3 and 4, respectively.

The going wasn’t as easy on the top two singles lines, however. On Line 1, senior Patrick Torsch put up a good fight but dropped an 8-4 decision.

That left sophomore Graham Buck on the court as the last singles match, and for a while it looked as though the Saints might be getting ideas about an upset. Buck trailed 7-2 at one point in the match, but then rattled off five consecutive games to force a tiebreaker, which he won convincingly by a score of 7-2.

“I was really proud of Graham,” said Assistant Coach Jay Combe ’83. “That was such a gutsy comeback. I love his temperament on the court. He never gets rattled.”

Sophomore Jack Steib lines up a volley.

Buck’s stirring comeback seemed to light a fire under the Blue Jays for the doubles competition while simultaneously taking the wind out of St. Martin’s sails. On Line 2, Torsch and Buck dispatched their opponents in a mere fifteen minutes by a score of 8-0. Juniors Christian Archaga and Griffin Pels picked up a win on Line 3 shortly thereafter, also by a score of 8-0.

At Line 1 doubles, Steib and Hamlin closed out the scoring with an 8-5 win.

Next up for Jesuit is a face-off with the Newman Greenies on Thursday, March 19. Match time is 4:00 p.m. at the UNO Tennis Center.