Most people have heard of sibling stars in sports, such as Eli and Peyton Manning, Kurt and Kyle Busch and Serena and Venus Williams to name a few. But one hardly ever hears of three sibling stars. However, here at DHS the three Zoller brothers have started off the tennis season strong with many first place finishes.
All three brothers, junior Ben Zoller, and freshmen twins Alex Zoller and Luke Zoller, are currently playing varsity tennis.
Ben plays doubles with junior Ramsey Mason while Luke and Alex play singles, although head tennis coach Justin Hoffman thinks doubles are a possibility.
“Luke and Alex might also play a little of doubles to learn how to communicate with each other on the court,” Hoffman said.
Although the Zollers are some of the best on the team, Hoffman still wants them to get as much playing time as possible.
“Right now they’re each playing varsity, but I also might have them play some JV for more experience,” Hoffman said.
The Zollers learned how to play tennis from their father, who captured the NCAA Division II doubles title in 1986 and led his team to the 1986 team championship while at California Polytechnic State University.
Although they learned how to play when they were young, they never played competitively.
“I took lessons a few times, but none of us ever played tennis in an actual league until high school,” Alex said.
But that didn’t stop them from going a combined 10-2 at the Washburn Invitational in Topeka on March 28. Ben and Mason went 3-1 in No. 1 doubles, Alex went 3-1 at No. 2 singles and Luke went 4-0 and took first place at No. 2 singles.
The invitational was the first high school match for all three brothers, as this is the first year of tennis for Ben. But it wasn’t beginner’s luck. On April 1 at the Highland Park Quad, the Zollers went a combined 7-2.
At the Paola Round Robin, the Zollers were successful again. Ben finished third in No. 1 doubles with Ramsey. Both Alex and Luke finished first and combined for a 7-1 record. Out of the five teams competing, DHS tied for first.
The Zollers are a combined 26-7. Ben is 8-3 with a first-place finish, Alex is also 8-3 with a first-place finish and Luke is 10-1 with two first-place finishes.
“I’m happy with my start,” Ben said. “It feels good to win more matches than lose them.”
Both Alex and Luke feel good about their starts as well.
“I’ve done well, but I should of won some matches that I lost. They were close, but I’m still proud with three losses,” Alex said.
“I’ve started out a lot better than I thought I would,” Luke said. “I’ve only lost one match and I’m hoping it can stay that way for awhile.”