By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – The Carmel boys tennis team is back in the state semifinals.
The No. 1-ranked Greyhounds took care of No. 5 North Central 4-1 in an IHSAA state quarterfinal match Friday that took place at Carmel’s Todd Witsken Tennis Center. The ‘Hounds advance to semifinal play, which is scheduled for Saturday morning at North Central’s Barbara Wynne Tennis Center.
“You never know what’s going to happen,” said Greyhounds coach Dan Brunette. “First off, it’s a rivalry match, right? Two of the most historically successful tennis teams in the state.”
All five of the matches were straight-setters. Carmel took both doubles matches, with No. 1 Michael Bao and Braedon McIntyre beating Akshay Guttikonda and Owen Larrimer 6-2, 6-3. The Panthers team was the individual state doubles champion in 2022. The No. 2 doubles team of freshmen David Liu and Grant Mu shut out Tyler Dooley and Aiden Khoury 6-0, 6-0.
In singles, No. 2 Rocky Li beat Reginald Perry 6-2, 6-1, while Wesley Worobel took the No. 3 singles match 6-1, 6-0 over Nathan Strachota. Jonathan Yang dropped the No. 1 singles match to undefeated Alex Antonopoulos 6-1, 6-2; the North Central senior is 25-0 for the season.
Carmel’s Bao is 27-0 for the year, with Mu improving to 22-0.
“We played well today,” said Brunette. The coach called the 2 doubles match “the benchmark match” and called the team’s shutout victory “really important.”
As a team, the Greyhounds are 25-0 for the season. They will play No. 6 Culver Academies at 10 a.m. today in one semifinal, with No. 13 Jasper and No. 2 Columbus North playing in the other semifinal. The championship match is scheduled for 2 p.m. All matches are scheduled to take place at North Central, but weather could force a change of venue.
The Noblesville boys tennis team received medals honoring their appearance at the state meet. The Millers fell to Jasper 5-0 in Friday’s quarterfinals at Center Grove. (Photo courtesy Noblesville Athletics)
Millers fall to Jasper
Noblesville made its first-ever appearance at the state meet Friday, playing in the state quarterfinals at Center Grove. The No. 24 Millers fell to Jasper 5-0.
Both of the doubles matches went to three sets. No. 1 Rory Bushong and Liam Shepard battled Eli Flick and Caleb Schnarr before falling 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4. No. 3 Jack Brenneman and Dane Campbell also went the distance against Reece Fisher and Cole Lampert before the Wildcats won 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.
In the singles matches, No. 1 Ethan Feliciano dropped a 6-0, 6-1 match to Trey Gutgsell, No. 2 Coleman Kratz fell to Joel Levy 6-0, 6-1 and No. 3 Zane Panning dropped a 6-1, 6-0 decision to Elliott Rolwing.
Still, it was a historic season for the Millers, who went 11-8 for the season and claimed first-ever regional and semi-state championships on their way to an inaugural appearance at state.