By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – Just like last year, it came down to one set.
The No. 18-ranked Noblesville and No. 17 Westfield boys tennis teams were battling it out in the semifinals of Sectional 56 Wednesday at the Millers’ tennis complex. The team score was tied 2-2, and Noblesville’s No. 2 doubles team of Dustin Turpin and Parker Stallings had dropped a 7-5 first set.
But the Millers’ duo came back, winning the second set 6-3 and the third set 6-2. Stallings served an ace on match point to clinch the match, and a 3-2 team victory for Noblesville. The Millers will play Lapel today for the sectional trophy.
Noblesville is the defending sectional champion; that 2023 sectional win was the first step in a run to the Millers’ first-ever state finals appearance last year.
“We’re very similar programs, very similar teams,” said Noblesville coach Chris Pyle. “It always comes down to one match. It always does, and it always will probably come down to one match in the third set. Luckily, we were able to get it done again.”
Pyle said his No. 2 doubles team made some adjustments late in the first set, and although the Millers ultimately lost that set, the coach said his doubles team “felt very good at the end of that first set.”
Going into the second set, Pyle said the duo needed to “clean up some of the errors, win on serve and good things will happen. And sure enough, we held serve for the entire second set and third set, and we knew, like, ‘Hey, as long as we can get a break, we’ll be fine.’”
Turpin and Stallings got the break early in the third set to go up 2-0. The team held on from there.
All of the other matches were decided in straight sets. Noblesville got its other wins from Zane Panning at No. 2 singles 6-1, 6-1; and No. 1 doubles, where Jack Brenneman and Dane Campbell picked up a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
Westfield’s wins came from No. 1 singles Parker Paramoure 6-1, 6-0 and No. 3 singles Ajay Prasanna 6-2, 6-3. Paramoure will advance to the individual singles tournament, which begins next week.
In the other semifinal, Lapel beat Hamilton Heights 5-0, winning all five matches in straight sets. The Millers play the Bulldogs at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon.
Noblesville 3, Westfield 2
No. 1 singles: Parker Paramoure (W) def. Ethan Feliciano (N) 6-1, 6-0
No. 2 singles: Zane Panning (N) def. Luke Stoecker (W) 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 singles: Ajay Prasanna (W) def. Max Habel (N) 6-2, 6-3
No. 1 doubles: Jack Brenneman and Dane Campbell (N) def. Parker Gibbs and Jay Hostetter (W) 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 doubles: Dustin Turpin and Parker Stallings (N) def. Jack Brennan and Jake Juntgen (W) 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
Lapel 5, Hamilton Heights 0
No. 1 singles: Kaleb Barnett def. Kamden Colter 6-0, 6-2
No. 2 singles: Tyler Cash def. Gabe Roosa 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 singles: Quinn Wilkins def. Luke Steffen 6-3, 6-0
No. 1 doubles: Cam Novak and Hogan Bair def. Elliott Meister and Owen Biddle 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 doubles: Bode McClintock and Aiden Gooding def. Cayne Miller and Ethan Forrester 6-1, 6-0
Over at Fishers, the No. 21 Tigers and No. 9 Hamilton Southeastern both advanced to the Sectional 56 championship with semifinal wins on Wednesday.
Fishers swept Pendleton Heights 5-0, winning all five matches in straight sets. In singles play, No. 1 Aidan Foley won 6-1, 6-1, No. 2 Gavin Conrad was victorious 6-1, 6-2 and No. 3 Dylan Campbell won 6-3, 6-2. In doubles, No. 1 Eshan Jain and Vaughn Curtis were 6-0, 6-1 winners, while No. 2 Jack Hunley and Beau Wolf won 6-3, 6-2.
The Royals beat Anderson 3-0; the Indians only had three singles players. Southeastern won each match 6-0, 6-0; with Alex Piercy at No. 1 singles, Brady Stump at No. 2 singles and Leo McVeigh at No. 3 singles.
Today’s championship matches begin at 5 p.m.
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Sectional 35 host Carmel advanced to its own championship Wednesday with a 4-1 win over Guerin Catholic at the Todd Witsken Tennis Center.
The No. 3-ranked Greyhounds will play No. 2 Zionsville in the final; the Eagles beat University 5-0. Matches begin at 5:15 p.m.