Doubles duo of senior Kyle Pock and junior Seth Martin took home third place in the Class 1 MSHSAA Doubles State Championships held on Saturday, May 20, at Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield.
After dominating the sectionals, the duo found themselves in the running at state, something all too familiar for Pock.
This year is Pock's third straight year in the doubles tournament, qualifying for the first time his sophomore year and earning a second place finish in his junior year.
His partner in those first two seasons? Seth Martin's brother, Lathan.
Martin filled the spot left by his brother's graduation, helping earn his first appearance in the state doubles tournament.
The road to state this year, however, was much different.
Throughout most of the season, Pock and Martin were separated in doubles play. Pock played with sophomore Cy Douglas at the one doubles spot, while Martin played with junior Ben Tull at the two doubles spot.
Pock and Martin still entered the tournament with a 16-3 record as a team, as well as a fifth place finish in a highly talented field at the Springfield Invitational Tournament.
The duo started the tournament off strong on Friday, May 19 in the first rounds of the tournament. They won their first two rounds in straight sets to reach the final four.
In the first matchup in the final four the next day, Pock and Martin matched up against the team of Poddar and Robles-Razzaq from Clayton.
“We have played Clayton the last two years in Team State,” said head coach Nathan Rothdiener. “They are a very good team, I really thought whoever won this match was probably going to win the entire thing.”
Bolivar started quickly in the first set, jumping out to an early lead until Clayton stormed back to take the set 7-5.
In a back and forth match, Bolivar dropped a close one to the eventual state champions 5-7, 5-7.
Bolivar, however, was not deterred.
In the next match, Bolivar faced off against the team of O'Dell & Davis from New Covenant Academy.
In a matchup that the Liberators had previously lost before, Bolivar jumped out to an immediate 6-0 win in the first set.
New Covenant Academy battled back into the match, going up 4-1 in the second set with the momentum on their side.
Bolivar's focus never wavered.
The duo then won 6 of the next 7 games to win the final set 7-5, taking home the third place trophy.
“Those two guys really fought hard this weekend and left it all on the court and the results showed for themselves.” said Rothdiener.
Pock will go down as one of the most highly decorated boys tennis players in Bolivar history, earning a second and third place finish in state.
“Pock has two individual state medals in his high school career, a second and a third,” said Rothdiener. “We will miss Pock next year. He's not someone you can just replace.”
But next year won't come yet.
Bolivar still has a chance at another team medal, playing Duchesne in the state semifinal on Friday, May 26 at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield.
