HSE to play Millers; Carmel, GC advance to championship
Boys tennis sectionals started in Hamilton County on Wednesday, with action at the Fishers High School tennis courts and Carmel’s Todd Witsken Tennis Center.
The most exciting competition took place at Fishers, as the No. 8 Tigers hosted No. 3 Hamilton Southeastern. The Royals won 3-2, advancing to this afternoon’s sectional championship. Southeastern plays No. 30 Noblesville, which beat Hamilton Heights 5-0.
Fishers and HSE split the first two matches, with the Tigers winning at No. 2 doubles and the Royals taking the No. 1 doubles match. Southeastern’s No. 1 singles player Rohan Golla won his match, coming back from dropping the first set 6-0 to win the next two 6-1, 6-0.
The No. 3 singles match turned out to be the clincher, as HSE’s Abhi Chaddha faced Fishers’ Matthew Kordesh. Chaddha won the first set 6-3, then after trailing in the second set, worked his way back into a tiebreaker. Chaddha then got behind 6-3 in the tiebreaker, but swept the next five points to win 8-6, winning the match and advancing his team to the championship.
“That’s the kind of player he is,” said Royals coach Kirk Webber. “He never gets too emotional. Never too high, never too low. That’s the sign of a good, mentally strong tennis player. For him to come up in the clutch when we needed it, that says a lot about him.”
The No. 2 singles players had already split sets, with HSE’s Paul Schneider winning the first set 6-2 and the Tigers’ Nicholas Rasmusson taking the second set 7-5. With the dual already clinched, the players used a third-set super tiebreak to decide the match. Rasmusson won the super tiebreak 11-9.
The Millers won all five of their matches in straight sets, with No. 2 singles Michael Krukover toughing out a 7-5 second set win over the Huskies’ Tanner Maynard. Noblesville and Southeastern will play for the championship at 4:30 p.m. today.
HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 3, FISHERS 2
No. 1 singles: Rohan Golla (HSE) def. Reese Knoderer (F) 0-6, 6-1, 6-0
No. 2 singles: Nicholas Rasmusson (F) def. Paul Schneider (HSE) 2-6, 7-5, 11-9 (third-set super tiebreak)
No. 3 singles: Abhi Chaddha (HSE) def. Matthew Kordesh (F) 6-3, 7-6 (6)
No. 1 doubles: Aiden De Witt and Andrew Spirrison (HSE) def. Nathan Simkins and Logan Kay (F) 6-2, 7-5
No. 2 doubles: Andrew Barker and Andrew Leonard (F) def. Nolan Houseman and Davila Rodrigo (HSE) 6-0, 6-1
NOBLESVILLE 5, HAMILTON HEIGHTS 0
No. 1 singles: Noah Bushong def. Ben Wolfgang 6-1, 6-0
No. 2 singles: Michael Krukover def. Tanner Maynard 6-2, 7-5
No. 3 singles: Ethan Feliciano def. Eli VanHaaren 6-1, 6-2
No. 1 doubles: Rory Bushong and Sean Vitales def. Colin Weber and Grant Cavanaugh 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 doubles: Caden David and Camden David def. Kal Colter and Josh Steffen 6-1, 6-0
Over at Carmel, the No. 1-ranked and defending state champion Greyhounds advanced to the final by beating No. 26 Westfield 5-0. Carmel won all five matches in straight sets; Broc Fletcher won at No. 1 singles, with the Shamrocks’ Brett Barnes taking him to 6-3 in the second set.
The ‘Hounds will take on No. 19 Guerin Catholic in today’s championship. The Golden Eagles defeated University 5-0 to advance. Guerin Catholic won all five matches in straight sets as well, including a close one at No. 2 doubles, where Alejandro Torres and Sean Loub edged out the Trailblazers’ Jake Harrison and Jordan Bopp 7-6, 7-5.
Today’s championship begins at 5:15 p.m.
CARMEL 5, WESTFIELD 0
No. 1 singles: Broc Fletcher def. Brett Barnes 6-0, 6-3
No. 2 singles: Eli Mercer def. Foster Edwards 6-0, 6-0
No. 3 singles: Rocky Li def. Mitch Amenta 6-0, 6-0
No. 1 doubles: Srisanth Malpeddi and Jack Jentz def. Trevor Ewing and Ben Jones 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 doubles: Adrien Qi and Braedon McIntyre def. Gavin Dietz and Matt Drozlek 6-0, 6-0
GUERIN CATHOLIC 5, UNIVERSITY 0
No. 1 singles: Max Fuller def. Owen Schellhase 6-4, 6-4
No. 2 singles: Jason Kolb def. Syed Hasan 6-1, 6-2
No. 3 singles: John Tiplick def. Edward Wang 6-1, 6-2
No. 1 doubles: Ty Harrington and Zach Thieme def. Dillion Blake and Jace Wilson 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 doubles: Alejandro Torres and Sean Loub def. Jake Harrison and Jordan Bopp 7-6, 7-5