By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – Anyone who has followed high school tennis in Indiana for a while knows that the Carmel girls tennis team won’t back down from a challenge.
This past week was one of the more challenging ones for the No. 2-ranked Greyhounds. Carmel had four dual meets against four teams that were all ranked in the top 10.
And yet, the Greyhounds won them all. Carmel beat No. 4 Columbus North 4-1, No. 6 Hamilton Southeastern 5-0, No. 8 Fishers 4-1 and then finished the week with a 3-2 win over No. 1-ranked South Bend St. Joseph Friday at the Todd Witsken Tennis Center.
To add up the numbers, the ‘Hounds beat half of the teams ranked in the top eight 16-4.
“We knew this was going to be a brutal week, starting off early in the week with No. 4, then having a couple county rivals in there,” said Carmel coach Bryan Hanan. “I can’t recall in the five years I’ve been here, the level of our schedule being like this and then to come out with four wins out of those four matches. It’s pretty nice momentum going into the sectional starting next week.”
The Greyhounds got the momentum early in the meet. The No. 2 doubles team of seniors Kaitlyn Conley and Anjali Natarajan were the first to win, scoring a 6-1, 6-3 victory and giving Carmel the first team point of the match.
Hanan said his team felt it was “a little stronger in doubles” and noted that when the singles players look down the courts and see that the ‘Hounds are up 1-0, it helps alleviate the pressure of a match – one that Hanan said was “almost like a state championship-feel type match” since it was No. 1 against No. 2.
“You feel a little less pressure when you got the first point of the match,” said Hanan.
The next two matches to finish wrapped up almost at the exact same moment. In the No. 1 singles match, St. Joseph freshman Molly Bellia won over Greyhounds senior Emma Brune 6-3, 6-2. Meanwhile, Carmel’s No. 1 doubles team of junior Hallie Reeves and sophomore Alexa Lewis won 7-5, 6-1.
“Our 1 doubles, they were pretty solid,” said Hanan. “Struggled a little bit in the first set, but I think South Bend had a little bit to do with that. They were No. 1 for a reason. They’re a good team. Our 1 doubles stepped up. We had some early nerves and they were able to finish it off fairly quickly in the second set.”
With that, Carmel led 2-1. The Greyhounds clinched the dual-meet win later, when No. 2 singles, senior Leila Antony, won her match 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, holding off a late challenge from senior Kate Bellia after going up 5-0 in the third set.
“She’s a senior, she’s a four-year varsity letter winner, she’s a state doubles champ,” said Hanan. “I knew she’d come out ready to go. That’s just how her attitude is. She’s a winner, she’s been a winner here. I was pretty confident she was going to show up in the third set and obviously she did.”
At No. 3 singles, Greyhounds freshman Nora Perkins battled senior Ashi Amalnathan in a three-set match, with Amalnathan winning 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Carmel will host a sectional next week, but before that, the Greyhounds welcome No. 19 Noblesville for a Monday dual meet – yet another ranked team.
” We schedule that way for a reason,” said Hanan. “We’ll travel anywhere for a reason. This is how we get better. We want to always prepare for the state tournament.”