TOPEKA — Senior Mason Key and junior Rhett Allen were a bit of a strange pairing from the beginning for the Iola tennis team, but that was the beauty of the partnership.
Mustang coach Dan Berg put his top doubles team together at the beginning of last year with the idea that the two would complement each other, not only with their style of play, but also with the way they carried themselves on the court and off.
“It just works for them,” Berg said. “One is somewhat relaxed and the other wants to push, so they got a lot of victories that way.”
Key is a driven individual who brings his competitiveness and desire to succeed to the court with him at every meet.
Allen is a much more laid-back player. He is quick to loosen Key up with a joke before a big match, while if Allen isn’t focused enough for Key’s liking, the senior isn’t shy to let his teammate know it.
“He goofs around a lot, but I think that is what makes the season really fun,” Key said. “When he messes around, it is pretty fun. He would make me laugh and we would make jokes at each other and then when it came to game time, I would get us focused.”
Allen says the two have very different versions of celebrations on the court, too.
“Mason is the one that is quiet and if we make a good point, he’s not going to yell or anything and I’m the one that if we come back, I’m going to yell and get all happy,” Allen said. “He’ll do the fist pump every once in a while. He is starting to get more into the yelling, but I’m the one that really yells and gets into it.”
The pairing also has the on-court skills to perfectly complement each other. Key is more of a power player, who excels with his play away from the net and Allen has the finesse game that allows him to play well closer to the net.
Allen and Key rode their combination of skills and demeanors all of the way to high school tennis’ final weekend in Kansas.
“Mason hits it really hard and Rhett just eases it and splits people,” Berg said. “It was fun watching them and I was really pleased they could make the state tournament and I know they are happy about it, too.”
The state tournament was not kind to the junior-senior duo. They lost their first two matches in Topeka and couldn’t reach the final day of competition, but the experience is something they won’t soon forget.
“It was amazing to be here and watch some of these great players from other teams play,” Key said. “There is a big difference between regionals and state. It was a blast playing here.”
For Key, he was able to cap his tennis career with a berth in the state tournament and he was able to realize a goal he had set as soon as he began playing high school tennis.
“It didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but playing against all these good players, they make you better,” Key said. “It was fun.”
For Allen, the experience is one that he and his coach hope translates to next year when he will be expected to lead a team that will no longer have Key or the Mustangs’ other state-qualifier Colby Works.
