By RICHIE HALL
A big comeback by a young Royal led the Hamilton Southeastern boys tennis team to a sectional championship on Thursday.
The No. 19-ranked Royals beat ninth-ranked Fishers 3-2 Thursday at the Southeastern tennis courts to claim their first sectional title since 2016. It’s the 11th overall for the Royals, and probably among one of the more exciting victories in the program’s history.
The match came down to No. 3 singles. Freshman Rohan Golla was down 5-2 in the third set, but put together a run of five straight games to win the set 7-5.
“It was just an amazing experience,” said Golla.
“Overall, just so proud of our guys,” said Southeastern coach Kirk Webber. “We knew it was going to be a battle at all courts. I thought there’d be a good chance that it could come down to 3 singles and sure enough, it did.”
The Tigers got the first point, as No. 1 singles Reese Knoderer won 6-0, 6-0. Knoderer will move to the individual singles tournament, which begins next week.
The Royals got on the board when No. 2 doubles Jackson Bill and Logan Hubbard won 6-0, 6-4. Fishers got its second point with No. 2 singles Owen McEldowney winning 6-1, 7-6, the tiebreak going to 8-6.
Southeastern tied it up again with No. 1 doubles Daniel Verde and Andrew Spirrison winning, 6-3 in the third set.
“I think that really gave Rohan confidence in knowing that okay, it was up to him,” said Webber. “Rohan, this isn’t the first time in the season he’s been clutch, come through when we needed him to.”
Southeastern earned a place in the North Central regional, which begins Tuesday with the semi-finals. The Royals will play either Mount Vernon or New Palestine, who play each other for a sectional title today. The Marauders are the sectional host, but the match will be played at Fishers because Mount Vernon’s courts are under construction.
Over at the Todd Witsken Tennis Center, No. 1 Carmel continued its sectional championship streak by beating Guerin Catholic 5-0.
The victory was the 10th sectional title in a row for the defending state champion Greyhounds, and their 33rd overall. Carmel won all five matches in straight sets.
“I thought we played really well,” said Greyhounds coach Bryan Hanan. “We knew it was going to be tough, starting with Westfield. Guerin, we knew they were going to have some spots that they could give us some trouble. Our guys are focused when the state tournament starts. We’re ready to go. We played well today.”
Carmel advances to next week’s Kokomo regional, which begins with the semi-finals on Tuesday. The ‘Hounds will play the winner of the Kokomo sectional, which will be determined today between the Wildkats and Western.
Hamilton Southeastern 3, Fishers 2
No. 1 singles: Reese Knoderer (F) def. Andrew Orme (HSE) 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 singles: Owen McEldowney (F) def. Paul Schneider (HSE) 6-1, 7-6 (6)
No. 3 singles: Rohan Golla (HSE) def. Nathan Simkins (F) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
No. 1 doubles: Daniel Verde and Andrew Spirrison (HSE) def. Andrew Leonard and Nick Rasmusson (F) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
No. 2 doubles: Jackson Bill and Logan Hubbard (HSE) def. Logan Kay and Andrew Barker (F) 6-0, 6-4
Carmel 5, Guerin Catholic 0
No. 1 singles: Presley Thienenman def. Carson Kniola 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 singles: Ethan Zhang def. Jackson Wolfgram 6-0, 6-0
No. 3 singles: Eli Mercer def. John Tiplick 6-0, 6-1
No. 1 doubles: Uday Lomada and Jones McNamar def. Ty Harrington and Cole Metzger 6-1, 6-3
No. 2 doubles: John Zirkelbach and Broc Fletcher def. Jason Kolb and Zachary Thieme 6-1, 6-0
The Carmel boys tennis team continued its sectional championship streak on Thursday. The No. 1 and defending state champion Greyhounds beat Guerin Catholic 5-0 to win its 10th consecutive sectional title. (Richie Hall)
Hamilton Southeastern won its first sectional title since 2016 with an exciting 3-2 victory over Fishers. The Royals’ Rohan Golla coming back from 5-2 down to take the No. 3 singles match and clinch the championship. (Richie Hall)