FORTVILLE — As the game-winning point dropped Wednesday night, Mt. Vernon freshman Manny Downs crumbled to the tennis court in both elation and exhaustion.
With host Mt. Vernon’s opening-round, sectional match against rival Greenfield-Central tied up, 2-2, everything rested on Down’s shoulders as the court lights flickered overhead during the decisive third set.
And, the Marauders’ No. 2 singles player didn’t shy away from the postseason spotlight.
Up 5-2, Downs rallied back to tie the final game, 40-40, which eventually went deuce, but Greenfield-Central’s Chris Long wasn’t backing down either.
The marathon continued to go back-and-forth with each player in position to win and either force another game or finalize the hotly-contested Mt. Vernon Sectional 47 quarterfinal showdown.
Downs applied the finishing touch in the end after nearly a dozen deuces, winning 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.
“As a freshman, I didn’t think I could come out here like an experienced player, but in half of my matches it’s come down to me, 2-2, and as I’ve gone through the season, I’ve learned to come through better,” Downs said. “Tonight, I came out and (Chris Long) did great, but this was one of my better matches of my career.”
It was the highlight for the defending sectional champion Marauders.
Mt. Vernon (11-7) had lost 4-1 to Greenfield-Central (15-6) in their regular-season meeting during the first week of September, only to avenge the prior setback, 3-2.
“Anytime you’re at set point, and there had to have been around 10 deuces, you keep fighting, fighting and fighting,” Greenfield-Central head coach Michael Turpin said. “(Chris) was impressive, but, up and down the court, we just put ourselves in a real bad situation after those first sets, and we had no choice but to fight, fight and fight and put too much pressure on ourselves.”
Mt. Vernon stormed out to win three first sets, including at No. 2 doubles where sophomores Brady Pearson and Matthew Jones teamed to beat G-C’s Tyler White and Casey Hunt, 6-1, 6-4, for the Marauders’ first point.
The Marauders built a 2-1 advantage after sophomore Adam Koon bested Cougars’ junior Matthew Hyre, 6-3, 6-1, at No. 1 singles.
Greenfield-Central’s first point came from No. 1 doubles seniors Jackson Weidner and Corbin Tilley, who rolled to a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Mt. Vernon seniors Isaac Damer and Brock Barr.
“They played a great match. All season long, they’ve been our ones that set the tone, and they absolutely did what they were supposed to do tonight,” Turpin said. “That is their 14th win on the season, which especially playing in what can be the most competitive matches at one doubles, I thought, they’ve had a phenomenal season.”
The Cougar duo will advance through the individual state tournament, but Turpin and his team were hoping it would be just one of three probable match-winning points.
Once Cougars’ sophomore CJ Michalek tightened the match with a gritty 2-6, 7-5, 6-2, win over MV’s Robbie Moore at No. 3 singles, anything was possible.
“When it came down to (me and Robbie), and I saw he won the first set, it kind of took something off of me. I thought, ‘Alright, it doesn’t all come down to me.’ But, when I saw he lost, it kind of hit my mind fast,” Downs said. “I knew this all comes down to me: our season, this sectional, this match, the people watching. It was huge.”
Long regained some momentum by claiming the second set before both competitors broke for 10 minutes prior to resuming their final set.
During the regular season, Long prevailed 7-6, 6-4, while the Cougars’ other points came from both doubles matches and Michalek.
“Mt. Vernon played excellent first sets, so they have definitely improved a ton since regular-season, so hats off to them on that one,” Turpin said. “But, it’s hard to win a match when we beat ourselves in some spots.”
Downs established a 4-1 lead in the third set before Long powered back 4-2. Downs responded by pulling ahead 5-2.
“We’ve done that a lot this year, relying on Downs. He’s had huge wins at other places, and we have all the faith in the world in him,” Mt. Vernon head coach Gabe Muterspaugh said.
“The big thing for us is we had our worst match of the year against Greenfield earlier this year. We had our (tails) handed to us. We had a come to Jesus talk that if you will not work and not give your best, then you’re not playing Mt. Vernon tennis. These guys went to work. We saw it inch by inch getting better through the year.”
Every time Downs gained an inch on Long, however, the other clawed back until the young Marauder faced his third attempt at ending the game locked in deuce.
“It felt like the most important match I’ve played. Hands down,” Downs said. “Being my first season, I did not think that would happen like that, but we got it. We came out.”
The Marauders will now face another Hoosier Heritage Conference opponent in Pendleton Heights during today’s semifinal round at 5 p.m. Defending Hancock County champion New Palestine (16-3) will play Eastern Hancock in the other semifinal match.
The championship is set for Friday at 4:30 p.m.
“When you’re the head dog, there’s a lot of pressure. We’re not the head dog this year, at least to everyone else. Not in our house, though. We’re still big dogs. We’re still the reigning champs. We’re still the defending two-time (sectional) champs, so we still got a shot tomorrow, so let’s go,” Muterspaugh said.
“We’ve gone from tadpoles, and we’re working on being princes. That’s the goal. We’re frogs right now, but they’re learning every day. Couple more kisses and we become princes.”
