The Belleville East Lancers head into the Southwestern Conference Tournament in Alton today a well-rested boys tennis team.
And coach Dan Skaer isn't thrilled about it.
Because of this spring's heavy rains, the Lancers have been washed out of two tournaments and had a third -- their own Belleville East Invitational -- cut down from two days to one because of rain.
"It's just been very frustrating for all of us because this is the time of year you need to be match tough, and we don't have the matches in that we would normally have going into the postseason," Skaer said. "In a normal year, the kids would have 50 matches, this year we may have 35.
"That (the matches) are what you play for. They are the fun part."
Nevertheless, East will battle seven other schools, including regular season champion Edwardsville, for the SWC Tournament championship, beginning at 2 p.m. today at Alton High School in Godfrey and Gordon Moore Park in Alton.
The tournament resumes at 8 a.m. Saturday at both sites.
Edwardsville, featuring standout Jordan Leskara begins tournament play as the favorite after beating Belleville West 7-2 on Tuesday. The win clinched the regular season SWC title for the Tigers, who finished 7-0 in conference duals.
"It means a lot because there were a lot of people who thought we would be a little down this season because we had lost our top five players from last year," Tigers coach Dave Lipe said following the win. "But right now, we just have a share of the conference title. We have to come out and play with the same amount of intensity this weekend as we have all year."
Belleville West, featuring three of the top players in the metro east in Max McLean, James Stathis and Alex McLean, figures to give the Tigers their toughest competition.
The battle for the individual championship come down to five top players.
East junior Drew Feder should be the favorite, but Leskara; Max McLean; Grant Fischer, of Collinsville; and Doug Mennerick, of O'Fallon. also are threats to win the title.
Contact reporter Dean Criddle at 239-2665 or dcriddle@bnd.com.
