Garden City junior Zane Storer is POY
When the 2026 spring tennis season was about to get under way, David Snodgrass had a sneaking suspicion that the Western Athletic Conference battle for the championship would be something akin to a scrum.
Having spent 12 years at the helm of rival Dodge City, Snodgrass had moved an hour west to Garden City and became the head tennis coach for girls and boys.
Just days ahead of the May 4 WAC Championship (1-day, round-robin format with 4 matches included), Snodgrass had said the team that got hot would be the winner.
Little did he realize that a scrum was being considerate after three teams – his Garden City Buffaloes, along with his former team in Dodge City and Great Bend – all tied with 9 points (1 point for each match won among the two singles and two doubles division).
That tiebreaker system was changed after the 2025 season and thus the team that had the highest winning percentage of games won versus games played would be the winner. Garden City won 58 percent of its games; Dodge City 54 percent and Great Bend 45 percent.
“It was pretty exciting and a good celebration for a fun year,” said Snodgrass of the team championship. “We had a lot of things happening that day and for the boys to show a lot of grit and resilience says a lot about their desire to win.”
One of the biggest issues that the Buffs faced that day was replacing usual doubles player Alan Lopez with Poe Du to fill out the complete set of doubles teams as well as the two singles players – No. 1 Zane Storer and No. 2 Kevin Nguyen.
When Lopez was missing that Monday morning from the team transportation, athletic director Matt Bayer found Du and drove him to Hays and arrived just 15 minutes before the first matches were to be played. Du team up with Eleazar Sanchez and went 0-4 but their matches were closer in games and that helped break the tie for team honors.
“I’ve always had the mindset that you win big and lose small,” said Snodgrass, referring to the score of sets. “That’s what we were able to do. The one doubles match for Law Htoo and Brodie Snodgrass was huge for us, too.”
Snodgrass got dominating performances from his two singles players – junior Zane Storer and senior Kevin Nguyen. Each went 4-0 with Storer only losing one game in four matches while Nguyen lost four games in his four victories.
“Over the years, you just get to know everyone, and I think my experience at Dodge City helped me be more familiar with the Garden City kids than it would be if you were going to a brand new school and didn’t know anybody,” Snodgrass said. “I think it made the transition a lot easier.”
Snodgrass said it took more than half the season to figure out who made the best doubles players, but once that was settled, the Buffs performed at a higher level.
“The doubles players put in a lot of effort during the season, and it took a lot of hard work to figure out the best combinations,” Snodgrass said. “I knew early on the kids who had worked in the offseason, but everyone showed improvement as the season progressed.”
With only two seniors on the team, the Buffs will have much to look forward to in the 2027 season, Snodgrass said.
“The biggest key for us is for the boys to go play summer tournaments against better competition and to work on all the fundamentals,” Snodgrass said. “For me, if the boys compete and put their best foot forward, I’m good with what happens.”
ZANE STORER, Garden City Buffaloes, Jr. – WAC Tennis Player of the Year
During the spring 2026 high school boys tennis season, it became apparent to all the coaches in the Western Athletic conference that Garden City junior Zane Storer had established himself as the favorite to win the No. 1 singles division at this year’s championship.
Storer, a towering 6-foot-4-inch power player, didn’t disappoint when he stormed through his four opponents at the one-day, round-robin format in Hays on May 4.
His dominating effort by going 4-0 and only losing one game in four matches (32-1), earned him the WAC Player of the Year award.
“At the start of the season, I just wanted to win more meets,” Storer said. “Last year, I had a lot of seconds and thirds. I was in the finals of all but one (through the regular season).”
He won five tournaments during the regular season and would go on to win the regional 6A tourney before placing 11th at the 6A state by winning four matches.
Storer opened the WAC tournament with an 8-1 win over Brooke Dixon of Hays. That would prove to be the only game he lost for the entire day. He followed with 8-0 triumphs over Lucas Marin Vera of Dodge City, Aaron Duque of Liberal and Aiden Stacey of Great Bend.
Storer, who compiled a 20-9 record as a sophomore, saw his record improve dramatically as he finished 30-8 after his state placing.
“I think the most improved part of my game was just consistency,” Storer said. “Before, I was just missing too many shots. Now I’m better at just playing my own game and not trying to respond to what my opponent is doing.”
Storer described himself as an aggressive baseliner.
“I’m using a big serve and his big shots so I can end points more quickly,” Storer said. “The main thing is to maintain my composure and not let things bother me.”
Storer secured a couple of big wins during the regular season with victories over a 4A state runner-up from 2025 and a 3-2-1A state champion from the previous season.
“I’m just finding better people to play and the more we can play back east, the better it will help my game,” Storer said. “I’m making better decisions on where to put the ball and I need to have something I can fall back on.”
Storer first picked up a racket to begin playing at age 13 and by age 15 had decided he liked the sport in part because he enjoys the solitude of being responsible for his won success or failure.
“You get to be responsible for everything, good or bad,” Storer said.
Before his senior season gets under way, Storer plans to play an active tournament schedule through the summer and into the winter months.
He also wants to improve all areas of his game in order to have something to fall back on if one area isn’t working for him against an opponent.
“I want to be able to have more ideas on where to put the ball against certain players,” Storer said. “Playing at State will help me a lot.”
Western Athletic Conference
Tennis Championship
May 4, 2026 at Hays High School
Team Scores
1. Garden City, 9; 2. Dodge City, 9; 3. Great Bend, 9; 4. Liberal, 7; 5. Hays, 6
| FIRST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. 1 Singles | Zane Storer | Garden City |
| No. 2 Singles | Kevin Nguyen | Garden City |
| No. 1 Doubles | Jacob Parks & Kai Britt | Great Bend |
| No. 2 Doubles | Easton Martinez & J’Kobe Contreras. | Liberal |
Player of the Year: Zane Storer, Garden City, Jr.
