Columbus North’s Michael Crossman returns a shot in the No. 2 doubles match in the boys tennis regional final against Seymour Oct. 9 at Columbus North High School.
Michael Crossman and Yoki Murabayashi were paired together at No. 2 doubles for Columbus North last year, but are playing on separate doubles teams this year.
Crossman and Murabayashi have adjusted to their new roles for the fifth-ranked Bull Dog boys tennis team as they prepare for Friday’s 10 a.m. state quarterfinal matchup with No. 14 South Bend Saint Joseph at North Central.
Crossman dealt with a sprained ankle suffered during practice that dampened much of the early part of the season for him. He tried to come back a couple of times but ended up reaggravating the injury. He plays with a brace and said he hasn’t had any further complications.
“When I first hurt it, I really didn’t know, and I was a bit worried because for about 30 minutes to an hour, I couldn’t walk on it,” Crossman said. “The next day, I was having trouble too, but it got to the point when I could walk fine pretty quickly, but after that, I wasn’t really worried. I think my ankle has gotten stronger. I’ve been doing exercise with it, and it’s feeling great now. I figured I’d be able to come back at some point.”
Columbus North’s Yoki Murabayashi serves at No. 1 doubles in Saturday’s semistate match against Cathedral at Center Grove.
Murabayashi has dealt with a nagging injury of his own. He’s had shoulder injuries during the season that limited with his service games.
“That was a moment where I struggled to serve. I couldn’t hit my first serve strong. I had to hit weaker on my second serve,” Murabayashi said.
While Crossman was out with injury, Murabayashi was partnered with junior Vince Sasse at No. 1 doubles, and it’s stayed that way this season. Once Crossman returned to the lineup, he played at No. 2 doubles with sophomore Sashu Sabapathy.
North coach Kendal Hammel said he intended to put Crossman and Murabayashi at No. 1 doubles if he didn’t put Crossman at singles. However, with Murabayashi into form with Sasse once Crossman returned, Hammel made the decision to not have them play together at No. 1 doubles.
“We never had an opportunity to get them back together, chemistry-wise,” Hammel explained. “As it progressed with Vince and Yoki playing more and more together, and once Michael jumped in there, then my thought process changed a little bit. It sort of fell in place with the way it is right at this time.”
Crossman mentioned that it didn’t take long to adjust, only making a few minor tweaks.
“It’s not a huge difference,” he said. “I’m still on the same side and playing a similar style. The big difference is learning to communicate with your new partner because when you played with a partner for a while, you sort of get to know what shots they’ll go for and what shots they’ll leave. When you play with a new partner, you have to figure that out again. It takes a bit of time, but it wasn’t very difficult I don’t think to adjust.”
Murabayashi agreed.
“It took some time for us to click and start playing good and communicating, but I think we got the hang of it,” he said. “We’re looking pretty solid this year.”
