Hank Lin
The Columbus North boys tennis team got the ball rolling in its season opener Monday night.
The Bull Dogs played the match shorthanded, but the end result didn’t matter as they swept visiting Plainfield 5-0.
“We came into tonight a little short. We were missing Teddy (Littrell) at No. 3 singles today, and we were missing Michael (Crossman) at No. 1 doubles,” North coach Kendal Hammel said. “We had to do some things, but the guys stepped up. They did a nice job for the first-match jitters and getting through everything and tired of hitting with each other and playing with each other and finally getting some competition. It was a nice win.”
The closest match of the night came at No. 1 doubles. Yoki Murabayashi and Vince Sasse dropped the first set 6-2. They bounced back to take the second set 7-6 (5), and then prevailed the third set tiebraker 12-10 over Landon Naaman and Jack Davis.
“It was exciting. The team was fired up for them. They got fired up for the win, and it’s a good starting point,” Hammel said.
The other four matches were straight-set victories. Hank Lin downed Colton East 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 singles. Parth Shah topped Carson Healey 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. Adrian Perez won against James Andres 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3 singles.
“I felt like I stepped to the ball. Taking time from (East’s) shots really helped me. The balls I returned to him, he couldn’t react,” Lin said. “I tried to get into the mindset of trying to move in so that he had to come up with a difficult shot, which made him miss more.”
At No. 2 doubles, Sashu Sabapathy and Jace Branham defeated Nolan Vernengo and Josh Knowles 6-4, 6-2.
North will look to keep the momentum going as they travel for the Jeffersonville Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
