First-year Niles tennis player Michael Geiger has come a long way in a short period of time.

Geiger, a junior, ran cross country his first two years before coming to the tennis program this fall. He said he played a lot of tennis with his dad and decided he wanted to try out for the varsity squad.

“I guess I just wanted to try something new,” Geiger answered about switching sports. “I always wanted to join the team because it’s a lot of fun playing tennis for me.”

Most players who join the tennis team after their freshmen or sophomore years end up playing doubles to begin their career. But Geiger has natural ability that allowed him to earn a spot at No. 3 singles for the Vikings.

He won his first two matches of the season (Brandywine, Mishawaka) before falling to Nick Rehm of Sturgis 7-6 and 6-3 Monday. Despite the loss, Geiger is pleased with his progress so far.

“Anything I can do to help the team is alright by me,” he said. “I’m pretty happy. Every game I get better and that’s all I can do.”

Niles coach Jill Weber is also pleased with the progress of Geiger.

“He’s got real natural ability and he moves to the right positions at the right time,” she said. “The more he plays, the more all those shots are going to go into play. He really sees what he wants to do with the ball. He really can figure out his game plan while he’s out there which is really a good thing for a new player.”

The Vikings opened the season defeating Brandywine and Mishawaka, but fell to Sturgis 7-1 Monday. The Trojans are coming off a tournament victory Friday and is the best team Niles has seen so far.

“They are a really good team,” Weber said. “We were so looking forward to this match because we knew it was going to be a challenge. I was very pleased. I thought we were in it all the way down the line.”

Niles picked up a win at No. 1 doubles with Alec Brown and Matt Miller defeating Clay Musloff and Jason Eichorn 6-1 and 6-2.

 

Sturgis…7

Niles…1

Singles

1. Matt White (S) d. Brad Miller 6-2, 6-2; 2. Eric Bartley (S) d. Nick Zeigert 6-2, 6-2; 3. Nick Rehm (S) d. Michael Geiger 7-6, 6-3; 4. Avery Peterson (S) d. Rob Lundberg 6-3, 6-0

 

Doubles

1. Alec Brown-Matt Miller (N) d. Clay Musloff-Jason Eichorn 6-1, 6-2; 2. Kris Ransberger-Clay VanPosen (S) d. Gevanta Nichols-Brent McGowen  6-4, 6-3; 3. Ben Sisson-Nate Sisson (S) d. Isaac Rosenthal-Nick Borkowski 6-2, 6-3; 4. Seth Miller-Andrew Airgood (S) d. Gavin Rasler-Matt Lee 6-1, 6-1

 

Record

Niles 2-1