Columbus North No. 2 doubles players Teddy Littrell, left, and Yoki Murabayashi, right, talk with assistant coach Robin Cain while playing against Seymour in the regional semifinals at Columbus North, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023.
Paige Grider | For The Republic
It was another easy victory for Columbus North.
The second-ranked Bull Dogs swept all five positions for a 5-0 victory over Seymour in the boys tennis regional semifinal Tuesday at Columbus North.
“I thought we came out and played really well,” North coach Kendal Hammel said. “We’re starting to get the intensity overall as a team. A little more geared up from match to match knowing that (today’s) match is the last match, regional-wise before we go up against the big time Center Grove (semistate) type match on Saturday.”
The Bull Dogs (19-1) now move on to face Austin, which won 3-2 over Batesville in the other semifinal, in the regional final at 5:30 p.m. today.
“Playing high-skilled teams is always great because it brings out the best in us,” Seymour coach Jacob Hunt said. “I was really proud of the boys going in and knowing how stiff the competition was going to be. With a couple of sicknesses today, we had to make due with what we had and piece things together. The boys had a really good attitude through the whole thing.”
One of those illnesses was at No. 1 singles, where the match between North’s Hank Lin and Seymour’s Joe Schmidt was forfeited. With the Owls’ forfeit, Lin is still eligible in the state singles competition.
In the other matches, North’s Parth Shah downed Parker Thompson 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2 singles, and Austin Clark topped Carter Stein 6-1, 6-3 at No. 3 singles.
“We knew coming in that we should have this match,” Shah said. “We just had to stick to the fundamentals and keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
The Bull Dogs’ Amrit Kar and Anvay Atram blanked Shun Takeuchi and Joel Stevens 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles. Teddy Littrell and Yoki Murabayashi defeated Drew Handloser and Xavier Dubois 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2 doubles.
North will need the same intensity against Austin that it showed Tuesday against Seymour.
“We know this will be the last match before a couple of practices and then getting into the meat of the tournament (in Saturday’s semistate), which is really going to make the difference,” Hammel said. “I think they’ll come out and do the exact same thing. They’re ready for it. They’re fired up for it.”
