Greenfield-Central’s Chris Long returns a serve during his first-round sectional match against Mt. Vernon on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
GREENFIELD — Coach Michael Turpin will have two completely different groups when his Greenfield-Central boys tennis team takes the court for the 2022 season.
All three singles players — and a fourth that got into varsity matches last season – return from a 15-6 team.
Both of his doubles teams will be brand new.
“It’s hard to tell when you haven’t played a real match yet,” Turpin said on how his team will be this year. “For the most part, they’re looking pretty solid. We have a lot of guys that have bought into what they need to do this year. They’re working hard. You can’t really ask more of them right now until we get started with our season.”
The Cougars begin their season next Thursday, Aug. 18, with a home match against Lawrence Central. The Hoosier Heritage Conference opener is Aug. 23 at New Castle.
Senior Matt Hyre played No. 1 singles last season. Juniors Chris Long and C.J. Michalek were No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
Another junior, Caden Robertson, played some singles matches when starters were out with injuries.
Turpin said there are no guarantees the players will be at those same spots when they take the court next week. All four are in the midst of competing for the three positions.
“We’re waiting to see how it plays out,” Turpin said. “Somewhere between those four we will find our three singles spots.”
Greenfield-Central graduated all four of its doubles players. Jack Weidner and Corbin Tilley were All-HHC selections at No. 1 doubles. Tyler White and Casey Hunt were the No. 2 doubles team.
Competition for doubles positions are between junior Eli Conderman, sophomores Luke Sitzman and Michael Kwiatkowski and freshmen Alex Michalek and Nolan Frye.
The Cougars have 17 players on the squad and only two seniors, Hyre and Tyler Swango.
Turpin said he welcomes having a veteran team. With the season ending earlier than planned in 2021, the vets have some extra incentive. After beating Mt. Vernon during the regular season, the Marauders knocked the Cougars out during sectional play.
“Experience is always nice,” Turpin said. “We lost in the sectional round, so they know what it feels like last year. They have some extra motivation going into the season to get themselves ready. You can’t downplay experience, but it’s nice to have a young team.”
Turpin has a little bit of both and still just one senior expected to be in the starting lineup.
“Going in you have to trust yourself and trust your game, but you have to be humble enough to know there is still room to improve,” Turpin added. “Even though some of those guys graduated, we’ll have a solid lineup and give a lot of teams a tough run.”
