By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – The Noblesville boys tennis team successfully defended its regional championship on Wednesday.
The No. 18-ranked Millers got past a tough Delta team 3-2 in the final at the Noblesville Tennis Complex. Noblesville now advances to the Homestead semi-state on Saturday.
The Millers swept the two doubles matches, with No. 1 Jack Brenneman and Dane Campbell winning 6-4, 6-4 and No. 2 Parker Stallings and Dustin Turpin getting a 6-4, 6-3 victory. Noblesville coach Chris Pyle said the doubles teams got off to “a little bit of a slow start, but that’s why you play multiple sets, right? They ended up figuring it out.”
No. 3 singles Max Habel was the clincher, turning things around to run away with his match 1-6, 6-3, 6-0.
“We just told him to slow down,” said Pyle. “He was doing too much. And sometimes if you do too much, you end up making costly errors and too many errors than you’re normally used to and it starts to snowball.”
But the coaches had Habel settle down and adjust his game plan a little bit.
“Worked in the second set, and we just said ‘Keep going until he beats it in the third set,’ and he won 6-0,” said Pyle. “Credit to him for slowing down a little bit.”
Noblesville will take on No. 19 Fort Wayne Carroll Saturday in the Homestead semi-state. The match begins at noon, with the winner qualifying for the state finals.
In the individual sectional at Noblesville, Westfield’s Parker Paramoure advanced to the championship match by beating Alexandria’s Owen May 6-2, 6-0 on Wednesday. Paramoure will play Delta’s Kody Best at 4:45 p.m. today for the sectional title.
Fishers wins again
No. 20-ranked Fishers also defended its regional title, beating New Palestine 4-1 Wednesday at the Mount Vernon regional.
The Tigers swept all three singles matches in straight sets. No. 1 Aidan Foley was a 6-1, 6-2 winner, No. 2 Gavin Conrad scored a 6-0, 6-0 shutout and No. 3 Dylan Campbell won 6-2, 6-3. Fishers also won at No. 2 doubles, with Jackson Hunley and Beau Wolf coming back to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
The Tigers will play Saturday at the Center Grove semi-state, taking on the host and No. 4 ranked Trojans. That match starts at noon, with the winner going to the state finals.