Riley, Saleh finish third at state
MADISON – The Fond du Lac doubles team of Kenah Saleh and Matt Riley did more than placing in the top eight at the WIAA State Tournament, which was their goal coming in. The top doubles team went 1-1 Saturday, leading them to a third place finish overall in the WIAA Division 1 State Tennis Tournament, which was held at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison.
Saleh and Riley lost their first match in the semifinals round, falling 6-3, 7-6 (3) to Brookfield East’s Patrick Krill and Henry Termuehlen. Once they reached the third place match, they picked up a 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over Neenah’s Aaron Kubiak and Alan Desai.
Marquette’s duo of Kyran Young and Nick Kallman took first place in D1, edging out Krill and Termuechlen, 6-2, 6-4.
“We always knew that we were just as good as any of the top seeds there and we came out loose and played the way we knew how to play and it worked out,” Saleh said Friday.
On Thursday, Riley and Saleh needed to rally to avoid an upset in their first-round match. That was never the case on Friday, as the duo opened up with a strong 6-3, 6-2 win in the second round over Neenah’s Bill Breining and Grant Mauthe.
Then Riley and Saleh started pulling upsets. In the third round, Riley and Saleh — seeded 10th — faced the No. 7 seed of Johnny Zanotti and Mitch Pralle of Arrowhead and won 7-6(3), 6-4.
In the quarterfinal round, facing off against No. 2 seed Jack Steinberger and Brett Conard of Nicolet, Riley and Saleh dropped the first set 4-6, but came back to win the second set 7-5 and cruised to a 6-1 win in the third set.
On Saturday morning, Riley and Saleh will face the No. 3 seed of Henry Termuehlen and Patrick Krill of Brookfield East for a right to play in the state finals. Having reached the semifinal round, Riley and Saleh don’t plan on stopping there. They hope to bring back a state title.
“Our goal is to win state and just keep going out and playing the way we’ve been playing,” Riley said. “We’re setting our goals high,” Riley said.
Saleh, Riley rally to advance to 2nd round
MADISON – Fond du Lac boys tennis coach Joe Sagen called it the “neatest comeback” he’s ever seen.
After falling in the first set 6-0, Fondy’s No. 1 doubles team of Kenan Saleh and Matt Riley rebounded to beat Marquette’s Ben Sinense and Noah Guillermo 0-6, 7-6, 7-2, 10-6 in the first round of the WIAA Division 1 state tournament Thursday.
“It was the neatest comeback I have ever been involved with in a standing coach point,” Sagen said. “We came up with some problem solvers, told them what to do and they followed along with us. The best part about it was that they executed it excellently. I think their experience helped them.”
The duo will play again Friday morning at 9 a.m. If they win that match, they will play again at 1 p.m., and if they win that one, they’ll play at 3 p.m. for a chance to go to Saturday’s finals.
Riley and Saleh preparing for state
The doubles team of Matt Riley and Kenan Saleh was no accident. Experimental, sure. But both players knew what they were entering into when they decided to pair up. They knew what they could achieve together. Now they’re getting ready to compete at the state’s highest level.
The Fond du Lac boys tennis team’s No. 1 doubles unit of Riley and Saleh is in the midst of preparations for the 2015 WIAA Division 1 state boys tennis tournament that starts this Thursday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison. Both Riley and Saleh played at state in 2014, but it’s a completely different scenario this time around.
Last year, Saleh advanced to state as Fond du Lac’s No. 1 singles player and Riley — paired with Stuart Nett — went in doubles. With Nett’s graduation, Riley needed a playing partner. Saleh saw an opportunity. Without even Fond du Lac coach Joe Sagen’s knowledge, the two discussed the situation last summer and decided to start playing together. They’re now on the brink of proving themselves as one of the state’s best doubles teams less than a year after conception.
“They’ve been working on it since the end of last year,” Sagen said. “Unbeknownst to me, they talked to one another over the summer and were looking over the different options and they came up with the idea that they go into (the season) as a doubles team. … That was all their idea. Nothing I put together.”
En route to a 29-4 record this season, the team of Riley/Saleh finished second in the Fox Valley Association tournament and was second at the Division 1 sectional tournament last Thursday, earning a berth to state. “It’s been kind of natural because we’ve playing together and against each other for a long time,” Riley said of playing with Saleh. “But we did have to put in some work throughout the summer and stuff to adapt to doubles.”
Riley, a junior, has played doubles every year of his high school career, advancing to state each time. Saleh, a senior, was originally a doubles player before switching to singles and qualifying for state in 2014. Clearly, the transition was slightly more drastic for Saleh this season as he had to significantly alter his playing style as opposed to simply getting a new partner. But as he’s played more and more with Riley, he’s developed the skills and doubles knowledge to help create one of the area’s more formidable teams. “It was difficult (to transition), but it was helped by the fact that I did play doubles my freshman year,” Saleh said. “I had a general idea of how to play and I just kind of built upon that knowledge. I worked on the key aspects of doubles, like the serve and volley and over time and working with it, it became pretty natural.”
As the No. 10 seed in the Division 1 doubles tournament, Riley/Saleh have a great chance to make some noise. The duo opens up against Milwaukee Marquette University’s Ben Sinense/Noah Guillermo on Thursday afternoon. With the two players having a combined three state tournament appearances and plenty of experience playing in the University of Wisconsin’s home arena, Sagen believes that familiarity will be huge. “It’s kind of intimidating the first time you’re out there (at Nielsen Tennis Stadium),” Sagen said. “They’ve been there not only in WIAA school stuff, but they’ve also done it through the United States Tennis Association. That’s like a second home for them.”
Although the doubles team Riley and Saleh have to face in the first round has an 11-1 record, Sinense is a sophomore and Guillermo is only a freshman. Riley recalls when he played at state as a wide-eyed freshman and, like his coach, thinks that experience will be important — at least in the first match. “I remember going (to state) freshman year and it was nerve-wracking,” Riley said. “Now that we’re used to the atmosphere, I think we’ll be ready to go.”
As for state tourney goals, Riley and Saleh are shooting to still be playing come Saturday, which would guarantee them a top-8 finish. For the duo to advance to Saturday’s rounds, it would need to win at least three matches. That in mind, the two aren’t peeking ahead. They’re focused on the first round, with the knowledge that no match will come easily. “Our expectations are high, but we’re humble,” Saleh said. “Both of us have just focused on our first match. We haven’t been looking ahead because we know every match is going to be a battle.”
