FISHERS — Not a lot has changed in two weeks.
A different venue and more at stake, but the results were the same.
Greenfield-Central beat Pendleton Heights 3-2 in Wednesday’s first round of the Mt. Vernon Boys Tennis Sectional, held at Fishers High School.
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On Sept. 18, in Pendleton, the Cougars beat the Arabians 3-2 in a Hoosier Heritage Conference regular season match. In both matches, all three Cougar wins came in singles.
And, like the September matches, all five were decided in straight sets.
“I think they played great,” Greenfield-Central coach Michael Turpin said of his team’s performance. “All three singles players knew what they had to do. They came out and did it for second time in a row against Pendleton.
“Both doubles teams played exceptionally better than last time. You could definitely see the growth that our team has made.”
Greenfield-Central’s No. 1 singles player Robbie Dye was the first off the court, winning 6-2, 6-0 over Caleb King. He had beaten King 6-4, 6-0 two weeks ago.
Both doubles and the No. 3 singles matches followed shortly. For the Cougars, No. 3 Garrett Neumeister defeated Zach Nelson 6-0, 6-2. It was a 6-3, 6-3 win for Neumeister when they met in the regular season. Then, both were playing No. 2 singles.
In doubles action, Pendleton Heights’ No. 1 group of Jackson McKinney and Kaleb Alumbaugh, in the closest match of the day, beat Seth Kirkpatrick and Kane Bradley 6-4, 6-4. At No. 2, PH’s Nick Vetor and Evan Bobb downed Nick Grandstaff and Corbin Tilley, 6-2, 6-4.
Kirkpatrick and Bradley won only one game in the first meeting, dropping the regular-season match 6-0, 6-1. The No. 2 doubles match had the same score as the previous meeting, but in different sets. Vetor and Bobb won 6-4, 6-2.
With the match tied, 2-2, it came down to No. 2 singles to decide it.
G-C’s Carson Gibson thwarted a late second-set rally by PH’s Parker Hammons to win 6-3, 6-4. Hammons had come back from a 5-2 deficit, by breaking Gibson’s serve and winning his own, but Gibson was able to serve successfully for the individual and team win. Gibson, with both players in the No. 3 spot, won the regular-season meeting 6-1, 6-4.
“I feel, as a team, we played really well,” Dye said. “Our doubles played well even though they lost, and our singles swept and that was amazing.”
Pendleton Heights ends its season with a 5-13 record.
“It’s been a tough year trying to get a point in singles,” Pendleton Heights coach Royce Hammel said. “We’ve probably lost seven or eight matches 3-2. One singles here or there could have turned things around.”
Hammel’s No. 1 group of McKinney and Alumbaugh will move on to next week’s individual regional. The pair are 17-5 on the season. The Arabians No. 2 group of Vetor and Bobb finished the year with an 18-4 mark.
Greenfield-Central improved to 9-12. The Cougars will play in one of two 5 p.m. semifinal matches today, taking on Hancock County champion Mt. Vernon. The Marauders beat the Cougars 4-1 in a regular-season match on Sept. 10.
In the other semifinal, New Palestine will play Eastern Hancock.
The championship match and berth into next week’s regional will be determined Friday.
