Whenever he needed inspiration for his marathon first round state singles tennis match with Mike Dunning of John Bapst, Monmouth Academy’s Kasey Smith only needed to look at the next court over at Colby College’s Alfond-Wales Tennis Courts and remember not being able to pull out a very similar match with Waterville’s Zach Disch between those lines one year earlier.

“We were basically twins on the court,” Smith said of the Disch match. “We both played very emotional tennis. We probably offended those playing next to us, we were so loud.”

The 2015 sequel, with Dunning standing in for Disch, lasted two-and-a-half hours before Smith emerged with a 7-5, 6-4 win and moved to within one victory of the first round of 16 bid in his career.

“My Dad (Mark) told me one of the tournament officials watched one of our points and counted 45 shots between us,” he said. “There were points like that, games like that, sets like that, all match.”

“He played mentally smart, his skills were spot on and he showed his stamina in that match,” Monmouth coach Dania Frost said. “He kept us on the edge of our seats — or me pacing back and forth — until the final point.”

Many came to appreciate Smith’s intensity and tenacity as a four-year qualifier for the state singles tournament. Unfortunately for Dunning and most of Smith’s opponents this year, they encountered a more practiced and polished player who won 15 of his 17 matches and ended his high school career without losing to a fellow member of the class of 2015. For his accomplishments, Smith is the Kennebec Journal Boys Tennis Player of the Year.

The Dunning match took a lot out of Smith, too much as it turned out because he had a second round match later that hot, humid May 30 against ninth-seeded Thomas Jarmusz of Morse. He won the first set, 7-6 (3), but ran out of gas after that and lost the last two sets, 2-6, 1-6.

“That first set was highly competitive, maybe the best I’ve ever played,” he said. “You would have seen three well-played sets, but fatigue gets to the point where you stop feeling your legs and then you’re done.”

What Smith has done in four years at Monmouth should have some legs in the annals of the school’s tennis program. He was first singles all four years, compiling a 47-21 record (15-2 this year) and earning Mountain Valley Conference first team all-star status all four years while reaching the state singles tournament his sophomore, junior and senior year.

This year, Smith led Monmouth to a 10-4 record and ninth consecutive state team tournament appearance. This despite the fact that he and teammates Ben Bolstridge and Tyler Cote didn’t have a doubles team to help them earn points for most of the season, so the singles would have to sweep to win.

Frost said Smith’s leadership was as critical to the Mustangs’ success as his play.

“Kasey stepped up this year by helping lead in practice, and he was a very good mentor for our third singles, (sophomore) Tyler Cote, by challenging him in practice and coaching along the way,” she said. “I have coached Kasey since he was a freshman and tennis has always been top priority for him. He was committed, playing for hours even outside of practice with his dad and brother, and it paid off.”

Smith’s father, Mark, put a racket in his hand at the age of 4. Kasey spent his youth playing Mark and his older brother by four years, Kevin.

“Tennis is really where my family gets along best,” he said. “We’ve had weekends where we spend eight or nine hours on the court.”

While his family has always had the greatest influence on his game, Frost’s perspective and advice were invaluable to his development, he said.

“She was the perfect coach for me, really,” he said. “She could notice a little thing I was messing up and we would correct it and it would make a huge difference. She was a four-year first singles herself, I guess, so she understands a higher level of tennis and what it takes to play at that level.”

Smith wouldn’t mind taking his tennis to the next level, but academics come first, which is why he has enrolled at Husson University to study accounting in the fall.

Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638

rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @RAWmaterial33