By RICHIE HALL
The Carmel High School tennis teams have accomplished many achievements over the decades, such as multiple team, singles and doubles state championships.
But believe it or not, the Greyhounds boys team will be trying to do something this season that it has never done before. Carmel enters the season as the three-time defending team state champion, so it will be going for an unprecedented fourth consecutive state title this year.
Only one school has won state four times in a row: North Central, the Greyhounds’ biggest rival. The Panthers have won four consecutive titles on three different occasions, and extended one of those to five consecutive titles, from 1983 to 1987.
Winning state four years running will not be an easy thing to do, but Carmel does have the personnel to give it a run. That includes defending state singles champion, senior Presley Thienenman. The Northwestern University commit finished last year with a 21-1 record, and sailed to the singles championship with a loss of just five games in two matches.
Carmel coach Bryan Hanan said that Thienenman “is not only a great player but an even better person.”
“I am looking forward to him stepping it up this year and being more vocal at practice and really take the leadership role and lead this team to success which I know he can do,” said Hanan. “It helps when your best player is also your hardest worker.”
Another key returning player is sophomore Broc Fletcher, who played No. 2 singles for the ‘Hounds as a freshman. Also back are Carmel’s No. 2 doubles team, senior Uday Lomada and junior Jones McNamar. Lomada and McNamar were dominant at their position last year, winning all 18 of their matches without the loss of a set.
“I look for this year to be a challenging year,” said Hanan. “We are going for our fourth state team title in a row. We know we are going to get the best from everyone we play so we really have to be ready to get everyone’s best every match.
“Our success this year really is going to come from being strong mentally and handling the peaks and valleys along the way. We have the talent to go far in the state tournament and compete for a state title, but it is never an easy road and if we want to accomplish this goal we are going to have to work hard at practice every day and push one another to get better.”
The Greyhounds begin their season on Tuesday, Aug. 20 at Hamilton Southeastern, then play their home opener the next day against West Lafayette.
The Carmel boys tennis team celebrated a third consecutive state championship last year. The Greyhounds will be going for a fourth straight title this year, and return four players from last year’s state team. (Richie Hall/File photo)