Liberty’s court jester Plate shows plenty of poise in win
Even after getting thumped 6-0 in the first set of his No. 2 singles match against a higher-rated opponent, Arek Plate’s demeanor didn’t change a bit.
The Liberty High School senior remained jovial and seemed not the least bit concerned as he bounded around the court in a funny-looking hat acting as if it were a casual practice session than an extremely important match that could very well decide the fate of the No. 4 Patriots’ CIF Central Section Division I boys tennis quarterfinal matchup against No. 5 Clovis West.
Plate’s ability to remain calm and cool under pressure paid off big for him and his team. The unflappable Plate rallied to beat an increasingly frustrated Jeremiah Cazares 0-6, 6-3 (10), propelling Liberty (17-3) to a 5-4 victory over the visiting Golden Eagles on Thursday afternoon.
“I did the same thing a couple of matches ago against a different guy,” Plate said. “Something in my brain, I’m not focused in the first set and then after that I learn their play style. Once I start seeing the patterns I adapt to them.”
Despite digging himself a big hole to climb out of, Plate’s confidence never waned.
“Maybe a couple of years ago I might have been worried, but now I just keep smiling,” he said.
Plate’s comeback win wasn’t surprising to Liberty coach Stephanie Ollivier.
“Arek has done this repeatedly,” Ollivier said. “It’s like he lets them feel like they’re doing really well and then all of a sudden, he comes back and gets them. It’s like he lulls them in and then he’ll just strike. They typically come off the court thinking, what just happened? They don’t even know. He just never gives up.”
The win earned the Patriots a spot in the semifinals against top-seeded Clovis East, one of only three teams to defeat Liberty this year.
The Patriots, who went undefeated in league play this year for a fifth straight time, entered the match knowing everything was going to have to play out almost perfectly for them to beat a talented and battle-tested Clovis West squad. Liberty defeated the Golden Eagles 5-4 during the regular season but both teams were missing multiple
key players during that matchup.
“We knew this was going to be a battle coming in because were so close last time,” Ollivier said. “I’m just so proud of every one of these boys because they all had to play their A-game to do this.”
Ollivier acknowledged before the competition began that Liberty’s path to victory was predicated on winning two of the three doubles matches, which it did but by the slimmest of margins. After splitting the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles contests, Dylan Scherer and Ben Hur teamed up to pull out an improbable win at the No. 3 doubles.
The pair had never played together prior to Thursday. In fact, it was Hur’s first time playing a competitive doubles match during his entire high school career.
It took awhile for the duo to gel, but following a 5-7 first-set setback, they got in sync and won the second set 6-4 before outlasting their opponents, Parker Gorans and Joe Joe Januse, 10-8 in a third-set tiebreaker that decided the grueling, nearly two-hour long match.
“Those are two seasoned players,” Ollivier said. “I knew they would figure it out.”
Hur said that it took awhile for that to happen.
“We had to cook up some chemistry on the court, right on the spot,” Hur said. “And we had to persevere.”
Scherer believes there were several reasons that he and Hur ultimately won the match.
“Teamwork, confidence, going for the ball, aggressiveness and doing what we do best,” Scherer said. “If you play scared, that’s when you mess up.”
By the time the No. 3 doubles marathon ended, Jacob Cove and Himanshu Wahl had long since finished giving Liberty a 6-1, 6-4 victory at No. 2 doubles.
Later Wahl, the only Liberty player to win at both singles and doubles, clinched the team win with a 6-3, 6-4 dusting of Blake Larmond in No. 6 singles.
The Patriots’ other win came at No. 5 singles, where Jaden Lee easily dispatched Jackson Cook, 6-1, 6-2.
This definitely was a team win,” Ollivier said. “They’ve worked hard. Just to get to the semifinals against such good competition is a big accomplishment. It feels great.”
Liberty is scheduled to travel North to face Clovis East on Tuesday. Last year the Patriots lost to Clovis East in the quarterfinals.
“We’re excited because this is our first road trip this year,” Ollivier said. “We have nine seniors so we’re just going to make it fun for them and we’re just going to go play the best that they can and enjoy it. You never know what’s going to happen. I’m not going to give up on them but it’s a tough team we’re playing.”