For the first time in six years — the entire existence of the Hoosier Heritage Conference boys tennis traveling trophy — the treasured prize did not return to the classroom of Delta High School tennis coach Tim Cleland.
At Delta Tuesday, Greenfield-Central defeated the Eagles 3-2, bringing the racket decorated with the names and colors of the eight HHC schools to Greenfield for the first time.
Tied 2-2, Matthew Hyre, the lone senior on the G-C varsity team, won his match at No. 3 singles, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 to give the Cougars the match-clincher.
“What he did was huge,” Greenfield-Central coach Michael Turpin said. “He didn’t even know the match was coming down to him. I think that was probably nice, too, that he was so focused on his match. He’s been huge for us this year. He’s led by example and shown how you need to act on the court and shown how you can take control, get it done yourself.”
The Cougars won all three singles matches. At No. 2, CJ Michalek gave G-C its first point with a 6-1, 6-1 victory. It tied the match 1-1 after Delta had earned a victory at No. 1 doubles.
At No. 1 singles, Chris Long gave the Cougars a 2-1 advantage with a 6-4, 6-1 win. Delta tied the match by winning at No. 2 doubles.
“It was the first time, as far as I know, that Greenfield-Central has ever beaten them,” Turpin said. “It felt really fun to be the team that broke that streak. The guys were super excited.
“At the same time, that’s not our No. 1 goal on the season. (Wednesday) we were back to work trying to get better and improve, push ourselves to the next level.”
Cleland and the Eagles have not just been a dominant program in the HHC, they’ve been one of tops in the state. Under the veteran coach, Delta has won 29 straight sectional titles, 24 total regional championships, have had 12 state quarterfinals appearances and five trips to the state finals.
Greenfield-Central is 3-0 in HHC matches this season and 7-1 overall.
The Cougars were slated to play Scecina Thursday and Morristown Friday. They’ll get back to HHC play, with the traveling trophy on the line, Tuesday, hosting Mt. Vernon.
Royals defeat Hagerstown
Eastern Hancock downed visiting Hagerstown 5-0 Tuesday.
No. 1 singles player Zeke Dixon and the No. 2 doubles team of Peyton Stephens and Bo Dixon won matches without losing a game.
At No. 1 doubles, Myles Wennen and Bryce Wennen won 6-0, 6-1.
In the other singles matches, Luke Fletcher was victorious at No. 2, 6-1, 6-2. Luke Schilling won his No. 3 singles match 6-0, 7-5.
The Royals visited Lapel Wednesday and are scheduled to travel to Centerville today.
New Pal beats Waldron
New Palestine picked up a 5-0 victory over visiting Waldron Tuesday.
For the Dragons, Moses Haynes (6-2, 6-0), Arjomand Khokhar (7-5, 6-3) and Brady Torzewski (6-2, 6-2) all won singles matches.
Doubles teams made quick work of their opponents, too. At No. 1, Max Havel and Eli Sloan won 6-2, 6-0. At No. 2, Dawson Lynch and Tyler Wilson earned a 6-1, 6-1 triumph.
New Palestine (4-6) travels to Shelbyville today.
Boys soccer
Cougars record another shutout
For the sixth time in eight matches, Greenfield-Central registered a clean sheet with a 5-0 Hoosier Heritage Conference win at Pendleton Heights Tuesday.
The Cougars are 5-1-2 on the season and 2-0 in the HHC.
In Tuesday’s victory, sophomore goalkeeper Jordin Jones had seven saves.
Bryce Kinnaman had a pair of goals. Drew Davidson had two assists.
Other goals were scored by Tyler Kerkhof, Josiah Findley and Dalton Evanhoff. Kerkhof and Findley each had an assist.
The Cougars return to action Tuesday with a home HHC match with Delta.
Girls soccer
Mt. Vernon blanks Shelbyville
Mt. Vernon improved its Hoosier Heritage Conference record to 2-0 with a 3-0 win over Shelbyville Tuesday.
Kylie Brandes, Hannah Monroe and Addison Lockwood scored goals for the Marauders. Addy Wong and Monroe had assists.
Goalkeeper Khloe Patterson had a save.
The Marauders are 4-2 overall. They travel to New Castle today for another HHC contest.
Volleyball
Greenfield-Central drops HHC match
Greenfield-Central fell to 4-3 on the season and 0-1 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference with a 3-0 loss at Delta Tuesday.
The Cougars lost by set scores of 25-17, 25-11, 25-17.
Mya Grigsby and Emma Berty had five kills each. Finnley Greene had six digs. Makenna Rankins had 12 assists.
Greenfield-Central welcome New Palestine Thursday.
Marauders lose to Bulldogs
Mt. Vernon lost 3-0 to visiting Brownsburg Tuesday.
Set scores for the match were 25-21, 25-14, 25-11.
Mt. Vernon (4-7) was led in kills by Sophia Damer with six.
Libby Gee-Weiler had 19 digs and Abby Herman, who went over the 1,000 digs mark for her career last week, recorded 10.
Setter Ava Whitmore had 20 assists and two solo blocks.
The Marauders play host to Delta tonight.
