In the span of a few seconds on Saturday afternoon, the Carmel boys tennis team went from being tied with North Central to state champions once more.
The Greyhounds overcame their longtime rival 3-2 to win their third consecutive state title at the Barbara Wynne Tennis Center. Carmel also completed another undefeated dual meet season at 20-0 and was No. 1 in the coaches poll from the beginning of the season to the state finals.
“I’m ecstatic, and this is awesome,” said Bryan Hanan, who is in his first year as head coach of the Greyhounds. “It’s never easy. I’ve had a pit in my stomach since probably Thursday. The kids came through like they usually always do. They’re just great kids. They come through when it matters. They just put in a lot of hard work.”
Carmel picked up its first win at No. 2 doubles, a 6-1, 6-3 win from Uday Lomada and Jonesy McNamar. The Panthers won the No. 3 singles match to tie the meet, but the ‘Hounds were leading in the No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles.
Carmel’s No. 1 doubles team of seniors Timmy Dixon and Garrett Lloyd won the first set in a tiebreak, while No. 1 singles Presley Thienemann flew through his first set 6-0. The second set was tougher for Thienemann, but he won the second set 6-4.
That put the Greyhounds 2-1 – for maybe a half-second. At almost the same time, Dixon and Lloyd won the second set of their match 6-3, thus clinching the team title.
“Oh, it’s incredible,” said Hanan. “In fact, we were a little stunned. We looked at each other and go, ‘I think we just won.’ And then we looked up and then Presley’s looking at us, and he didn’t know he won. Then all of a sudden we did the math and said ‘Wait a second, you just clinched. We just won three points, we just won the state championship.’ It’s amazing.”
It’s the second time Carmel has won three in a row; the Greyhounds’ first three-peat came in 2010-11-12. This also marked Carmel’s 11th state championship in boys tennis, which is second all-time. North Central is the leader with 20.
Thienemann and the Dixon/Lloyd team will now advance to the singles and doubles tournaments, which take place next weekend. Since they are undefeated, the Carmel players will be the top seeds in their respective divisions.
“The goal is to try to win all three,” said Hanan. “We did it a couple years ago. It’s very hard to do. That is the goal. Our guys said that at the beginning of the year. Obviously team first, and then they have their individual goals.”
In the semi-finals, the ‘Hounds took care of Floyd Central 5-0. Carmel dropped only 10 games in the match, with Lomada and McNamar taking the No. 2 doubles match 6-0, 6-0. No. 2 singles Broc Fletcher and No. 3 Srisanth Mapleddi joined the afore-mentioned No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles players in winning matches.
SEMI-FINALS
Carmel 5, Floyd Central 0
No. 1 singles: Presley Thienemann def. Lucas Sakamaki 6-0, 6-2
No. 2 singles: Broc Fletcher def. Connor Mason 6-1, 6-0
No. 3 singles: Srisanth Malpeddi def. Eric Whitehouse 6-1, 6-4
No. 1 doubles: Timmy Dixon and Garrett Lloyd def. Alex Poe and Jordan Wilson 6-2, 6-0
No. 2 doubles: Uday Lomada and Jonesy McNamar def. Gabe Cora and Joe Lincoln 6-0, 6-0
CHAMPIONSHIP
Carmel 3, North Central 2
No. 1 singles: Presley Thienemann def. Ian Brady 6-0, 6-4
No. 2 singles: Broc Fletcher lost to Ajay Mahenthiran 6-3, 7-5
No. 3 singles: Srisanth Malpeddi lost to Mace Shoults 6-1, 6-3
No. 1 doubles: Timmy Dixon and Garrett Lloyd def. Nathan Branaman and Brian McAuley 7-6 (5), 6-3
No. 2 doubles: Uday Lomada and Jonesy McNamar def. Carter Bailey and Josh Gerstein 6-1, 6-3
PARKER, MEYER REACH REGIONAL FINAL
The Hamilton Southeastern doubles team of Matthew Parker and Matt Meyer reached the championship match of the Fishers doubles regional on Saturday.
Parker and Meyer beat Beech Grove’s Dean Hayward and Levi Miller 6-0, 6-0 in the semi-finals, but fell to Brownsburg’s Adam Prichard and Gunnar Reffeitt 6-2, 7-6 (8) in the final. Parker and Meyer finished their season 15-7.
The Carmel boys tennis team won its third consecutive state championship Saturday at North Central’s Barbara Wynne Tennis Center. The Greyhounds beat the host Panthers 3-2 in the final. (Richie Hall)