Ottumwa’s tennis family reunites at Dan Staggs Tournament

OTTUMWA — For the Ottumwa tennis program, the Dan Staggs Tournament has turned into something of a family reunion.

In some cases on Tuesday, an actual family reunion emerged. Some proved to be a little more successful than others, as was the case on the opening night of adult doubles play as brothers Trey and Quintin Hull picked up a 6-3, 6-3 win over first-time sibling partners Toby and Blythe Schmidt, advancing to the semifinals.

“Those are two college tennis players,” Toby Schmidt said. “Blythe definitely hung in there. She hit some passing-shot winners. She hasn’t picked up a racket for six months, so to play that well, I kind of felt like I was letting her down. There were some pretty easy shots that I missed, including a lot of returns.”

Toby Schmidt found success in singles play, advancing to the semifinal round on Tuesday sweeping Trey Hull 6-2 and 6-1. Tucker Henderson joined Schmidt in returning to the semifinals, overcoming a slow start to win 7-5 and 6-0 over Logan Storto.

“If this tournament had been a week earlier, I don’t think Tucker would have been able to play,” Ottumwa head boys tennis coach and tournament founder Mark Hanson said. “He’s been battling through some injuries. He was feeling well enough to give it a shot. There was a lot of great competition with a lot of players pushing each other.”

Hanson joined former OHS standout Dominick Rath in picking up a hard-earned doubles win over the father-son team of Chris and Logan Storto. Hanson and Rath battled their way to a 6-2, 6-4 win securing a spot in the doubles semifinals.

“It’s really an honor to play with one of my players,” Hanson said. “I’ve done this when I was coaching tennis at Waterloo, even when I was principal in Burlington and Iowa City. Being able to do this with Dominick is really fun for me. I hope he can put up with me for a few more matches.”

Hanson and Rath will take on current tournament organizer Garrett Ward and Marty Schmidt in the semifinals of doubles play. Ward and Schmidt spoiled the reunion of Jordan Lee and Nellie Morgan, who teamed up for the first time since playing as the top doubles team for the Ottumwa High School girls tennis team in the spring of 2025.

“Getting on a court hitting with Jordan, just being back on my home courts, lit a fire under me,” Morgan said. “It really made me want to play. I wish I could have played with Jordan this past season. Seeing how much she’s grown since last spring and having gotten better myself playing at Wartburg, it was special seeing all the things that she’s gotten so much better at executing.”

Lee and Madalyn Sertterh each improved to 2-0 in the women’s tournament, winning decisive third-set tiebreakers on Tuesday with Lee edging Abby Ellison 11-9 while Sertterh won 10-6 over Ilana Vasconez. Marty Schmidt also won a third-set tiebreaker in the first round of the men’s singles tournament, winning 10-8 over Rath setting up a quarterfinal match with Quintin Hull on Wednesday.

Marcus Storto rallied from an early 5-2 deficit, sweeping Caleb Zeigler 7-5 and 6-1 in adult singles tournament play. Storto will next take on Ward, who swept Kinnick Monohan 6-0 and 6-0, in the singles tournament quarterfinals.