PORT CLINTON

Dave Jordan may have provided the Port Clinton tennis program with the best competition it has ever seen.

And junior Jordan VanWinkle and sophomores Samantha Griffin, Chelsea Beck and Aubrey Gillman are reaping the benefits with spots at the Division II state tennis tournament, which begins Friday on the campus of The Ohio State University.

Jordan's invention is a ball feeder that allows a player to simulate a complete match against it. And it's a very tough opponent.

"He'll play a match with you," Beck said. "His name is Boomer."

Still in development, there are fewer than 10 Boomers in the world, but Port Clinton assistant coach Brian Beck, Chelsea's father, stumbled across the machine on the Internet and set up the system in his backyard tennis court two years ago.

Redskins tennis players are a regular at his house. And he's seeing the rewards as Beck, Gillman and Griffin make their second trip to Columbus in as many years.

"It's a great accomp- lishment to get there," Brian said. "They're looking for one match and going with the mentality to win one."

Being best friends off the court has helped the quartet, Beck said.

"Overall, we're very proud of all four and pleased with all four," he said.

The girls participate in USTA tournaments and played plenty of state caliber opponents during the regular season with various tournaments and faced state-power Lexington in the Division II semifinal, said Port Clinton head coach Jim Greer.

"Both teams will go down there with more confidence," he said.

The outcome Friday will have to do with what game they bring to the court. A year ago, they were in awe. This time, they're prepared.

Thanks, in part, to Boomers' help.

Boomer can work with players on any aspect of the person's game: serves, volleys, groundstrokes and overhead shots. It also can play at a variety of levels on the USTA scale of 2-7.

So if the girls wanted to play Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer, Boomer can simulate it for them. And, on occasion, they've tried the highest level.

"You can't hit any of the shots," Gillman said.

A machine that uses cameras to judge the speed and angle of a player's shot, Boomer can feed appropriate returns in sequence, call out the score and rate the quality of your game.

Harshly sometimes.

"(H)e'll make fun of you if you hit a weak shot," Gillman said. "Something like, 'My grandma hits better than that.'"

Harsh, but effective.