INDIANAPOLIS — Last Friday, Mt. Vernon senior Chris Hays couldn’t stick around long to savor his team’s back-to-back sectional championship victory.
After winning his match at No. 2 singles in straight sets, Hays had a handful of minutes to raise the sectional trophy and pose for a few quick photos before speeding off to make his sister Erin’s wedding in time.
On Tuesday night, Hays owned the clock — and the scoreboard — at The Barbara S. Wynne Tennis Center during the IHSAA boys team tennis regional tournament at North Central High School.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryWith the Marauders’ regional semifinal match against Lawrence North tied up 2-2, Hays was the deciding factor, and he made sure his time was spent doing exactly what he does best — winning.
At 23-1 on the season, Hays defeated Lawrence North’s Branden Yu in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1, to clinch Mt. Vernon’s first-ever regional finals appearance in boys tennis with at 3-2 victory.
“This is the first time ever, in school history, that we’ve advanced this far, but we want to go farther,” Hays said. “This is a great win, but it’s not the championship, so we just have to keep looking forward.”
The Marauders never lost sight.
The team’s doubles players put Mt. Vernon ahead 2-1 early with seniors Owen Koon and Dallas Turner winning 6-2, 6-1 at one, and seniors Logan LeRoy and Andrew Jones claiming two doubles, 6-0, 6-2.
“Our doubles set the tone early. They did not mess around. We were both up either 4-0 or 5-0 and it was over,” Mt. Vernon head coach Gabe Muterspaugh said. “I told them, ‘You guys have to set the tone because if Chris sees you guys rolling, then it makes that Lawrence North guy’s life tougher.’ And, it did.”
The Marauders defeated Lawrence North 3-2 during the regular season at home on Sept. 10 behind three key points from their doubles tandems and Hays.
They replicated the feat in dominating fashion through six sets.
“I knew no matter what, I needed to do what I needed to do to win,” Hays said. “Going in, I just really wanted to win, whether we down 0-4 or up 4-0. My spot, I just wanted to do what I had to do there.”
In the first meeting with Lawrence North, which is ranked 10th in District 6, Hays won 6-4, 7-5.
This time around, he was more efficient by attacking the deep court and the net after analyzing Yu’s tendencies. A four-year varsity starter, Hays knew what was at stake.
No boys tennis team in Hancock County history has reached the regional finals since New Palestine in 2014-15.
After the Marauders (21-1) set a new school record for wins in a single-season this fall and repeated as both county and sectional champions, this was the next step.
“First off, it’s a culmination of a total team effort. Graham McMullen, my assistant coach, we couldn’t do it without him,” Muterspaugh said. “The kids just bought in. It’s just the belief. We believe every time we go out there, and it starts with Graham and I and our belief in these guys. When you believe and you put the time in, this can happen.”
The Marauders believed they had the talent to finally clear the hurdle. With seven seniors in the varsity lineup and more in reserve, they relied on everyone to rewrite boys tennis history.
Senior Haiden Rose challenged at No. 1 singles against LN’s Kyle Manner before falling 6-3, 6-2, which tied up the match 2-2.
Joe Bowsher, a senior starter, was unfortunately held out due to illness, but senior Tyler Sumner stepped right in and battled during his first-career varsity singles match, losing 6-1, 6-4.
“Tyler played a terrific game. It looked like it was going to be a blowout, but then I saw he kept hanging in there in the second set, though he’s never played a varsity singles match ever,” Hays said. “He’s only played two varsity doubles matches ever, so that was great. When you have as many seniors as you do and as much experience, then it’s a lot easier to fill those holes.”
Hays wasn’t expendable in the clutch, however.
He forced several key errors and secured match-point with a double fault by Yu.
“First team from Hancock County to reach the regional finals (since 2014),” Muterspaugh said. “Hays has the mental toughness that you want. He’s a multi-sport kid and comes from a long line of guys with heart and passion. He refused to lose today. We knew we had the best guy out there to play for our win today.”
Following the victory, the Marauders were already focused on today’s regional final at 4:30 p.m. against No. 3 North Central. Ranked second in District 4, Mt. Vernon is the underdog, but they aren’t shying away from the role.
“They’re going to be really good, obviously. Ranked very high in the state, but we have to go in confident and believe that we can win,” Hays said.
North Central has finished state runner-up the past two seasons and placed second again in 2016-17. The Panthers’ last state title came in 2015-16 with 34 regional titles to their credit, including nine consecutive.
North Central defeated No. 10 Hamilton Southeastern 3-2 in the regional semifinal to advance.
“We have nothing to lose tomorrow, so why not go out and shock the world? Shock everybody else, except for us. We wouldn’t be shocked by it,” Muterspaugh said. “This means the world. If we lost today, there probably would have been that little gray spot on our season. Now, there’s not. There is no gray spot.”
NOTES: Eastern Hancock senior Kodey Huff advanced in the individual sectional tennis tournament with a 6-0, 6-0 win at North Central over Arsenal Tech’s Darren Johnson. He will face Noblesville’s Noah Bushong in singles play today at 4:30 p.m. … New Palestine’s Ezra Schwier lost his sectional tournament singles match 6-0, 6-0 to Bushong to end conclude his season.
