How a three-hour thriller led Holland Christian tennis to another regional title
HOLLAND – Holland Christian's Dylan Becksvoort cruised to the Division 3 regional finals at No. 2 singles.
His matches were quick and efficient, and it looked like the finals would be that way when he won the first set 6-0 against East Grand Rapids' Connor VanDrunen – but then everything changed.
The senior No. 2 singles player trailed 4-1 and 5-2 in the second set only to come back and tie it 5-5 before losing 5-7 to East Grand Rapids to force a third set, which as the match continued to rally back-and-forth, went to a tiebreak and Becksvoort finally put a couple of points together in a row to clinch a 6-0, 5-7, 7-6(4) regional title.
The match that took more than three-and-a-half hours sparked the Maroons to the Division 3 regional championship on Wednesday, Oct. 8, at Holland High School. Holland Christian was the Division 4 state champion last year and moved back up to Division 3 this season.
"Regional titles are never guaranteed. Whenever you get the chance to do it, it is a great accomplishment," Holland Christian coach Steve Gorno said. "Dylan was crazy good. He fought and you can't say enough about his heart in that match. He stayed steady enough just to win two more points than the guy on the other side of the net. That is incredible persistence on his part and that is what he does for us all the time."
The Maroons won the Division 3 regional title with 28 points. South Christian was second with 17, while East Grand Rapids and Unity Christian tied for third with 15. Zeeland East was fifth with 11 points. Holland and Hamilton each finished with two points to tie for ninth.
But all eyes were on Becksvoort's match – especially since all four of the doubles finals started the same time as his second set started, and all finished before him.
"Probably the longest match I have ever played," said Becksvoort, last year's state champion at Division 4. "When I was down 1-4, I didn't want to let that slip away and wanted to at least make an effort to take it back, and I almost did. Third set, I just wasn't going to let him beat me. There was determination and tenacity, just one more shot back at a time. Consistency was definitely the key. It is a very powerful thing at this level of tennis.
"It is never too late to win a game, win a set, win a match. It is really cool to get the opportunity to win four regionals as a team and go to state each year. Not everyone gets to do that. We want to continue that momentum at the state meet."
At No. 3 singles, Holland Christian's Nico Grosso beat Unity Christian 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-0 in the finals.
At No. 4 singles, Holland Christian's Zeke DeYoung and Zeeland East's Andrew Colesanti met in the semifinals. DeYoung won 6-2, 6-4 and then held off East Grand Rapids 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in the finals.
At No. 1 singles, Zeeland East's Seth VanTimmeren won his play-in match then upset Holland Christian's Lucas VanWieren to reach the semifinals. VanTimmeren avenged a loss last week to VanWieren in the conference tournament.
Holland's Floyd Webb also reached the semifinals.
In doubles, Holland Christian's Michael Gorno and Graham Tanis made the finals at No. 1 and beat South Christian 6-1, 6-2.
Holland Christian also reached the finals at No. 2 doubles and Jack DeYoung and Brody Bergsma beat South Christian 6-3, 6-3.
The Maroons' third doubles team of Evan Disselkoen and Eli Whitmer beat South Christian 6-2, 6-1 for the title.
At fourth doubles, Holland Christian's Jonathan Haig and Carter Leep defeated Zeeland East's Tanner Reynolds and Lukas Hafeman 6-2, 6-1 in the finals.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland Christian tennis wins Division 3 regional title again
