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Lebanon's bid to qualify for the top flight of the Greater Western Ohio Conference boys tennis tournament fell short on Tuesday when the Warriors dropped a 3-2 decision at home to Miamisburg.

The GWOC separates its tennis tournament into two flights, Gold and Silver, with the top eight teams in the 17-team conference playing in the Gold Division.

"We needed to beat Miamisburg to finish second in the South Division and get to play at Centerville for the GWOC championship," Lebanon coach Steve Florence said. "Instead, we are one of the nine teams heading to Troy on Saturday to compete in the Silver Flight.

"We'd rather be playing in Centerville, but hopefully we'll win some matches at Troy. If we can win that Silver tournament, it would be a nice feather in our cap."

On Tuesday, the Warriors got two wins in singles play.

Ross Butterfield, a sophomore, improved to 10-4 on the season with a 6-3, 6-3 win.

Kyle Hannigan, another sophomore, captured Lebanon's other win against Miamisburg, 6-1, 6-0 at the third singles slot.

Daniel Caceres fell to 5-8 on the season at second singles after a 7-6, 6-1 defeat, and the first doubles team of Jesse Ball and Evan Lolly, along with second doubles Erik Carroll and Tyler Duvelius also tasted defeat. Florence has also rotated David Sanker into a doubles slot throughout the season.

Overall, the Warriors have a 6-9 record, and Florence says the team needs to develop more consistency, especially at doubles, to move into the upper division of the league.

"This season has been challenging at times, rewarding at times and frustrating at times," Florence said. "It's been a mixed bag. We've had losses we should have won and played really well in other matches."

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