Greenfield-Central’s Chris Long hits a return to Pendleton Heights Austin Perny.
Tom Russo | The Daily Reporter
By Brady Extin | Daily Reporter
GREENFIELD — After a tough 3-2 loss Tuesday to Shelbyville, Greenfield-Central bounced back quickly and grabbed another Hoosier Heritage Conference win on Wednesday.
On Senior Night, the Cougars defeated Pendleton Heights 4-1 to improve to 11-3 on the season and 4-2 in conference matches.
“Last night was tough. We just didn’t have the energy we needed, and that is what it is,” Greenfield-Central head coach Michael Turpin said. “So to see how we came out (Wednesday) and realized the errors that we made (Tuesday) and took advantage of that was huge for us.”
Competing in the No. 3 singles spot for the Cougars was the lone varsity senior, Matt Hyre.
Hyre made quick work of his opponent, Jaxton Bush, defeating him 6-0, 6-2.
“I’m proud of all these guys, especially tonight,” Hyre said. “I really didn’t want to lose on my one and only Senior Night here at Greenfield.”
Hyre, who played No. 1 singles for Greenfield-Central last season, has been slotted into the No. 3 spot for this season. For him, that’s made his senior year even more enjoyable.
“I’ve had a lot more fun with my senior year,” Hyre said. “I haven’t cared about winning as much and have just focused on having fun. And I guess when you have more fun you get more wins.”
Greenfield-Central’s other two singles players, C.J. Michalek and Chris Long followed Hyre’s lead, defeating both of their opponents.
Both Michalek and Long have seen time at the No. 1 spot this season.
After only losing two matches all season up to that point, Michalek beat out Long for the No.1 spot prior to the Hancock County tournament Saturday. Wednesday, he was still in the No.1 spot.
In the only match to go all three sets, he defeated Pendleton Heights Sam Bowers 4-6, 6-0, 6-3.
“I think for a little bit he felt uncomfortable at No. 1. You could definitely see it in the first round at county, but in the second round he looked like himself again,” Turpin said. “Tonight we finally got a good glimpse at who he truly is, and he’s really finding his niche there.”
In the No. 2 spot, Long had the quickest match of the night, defeating Austin Perny 6-0, 6-1.
“Chris is still doing an excellent job,” Turpin said. “He’s just continued to show why he is where he is.”
Greenfield-Central split the two doubles matches.
The No. 1 doubles team of Luke Sitzman and Caden Robertson lost to a very strong Pendleton Heights duo in Cole Bubenzer and Mark Nielsen 6-1, 7-5.
Alex Michalek and Michael Kwiatkowski grabbed the win in the No. 2 doubles match 7-6 (10-6), 6-1. They defeated the Arabians team of Ben Caldwell and Isaac Elizondo.
Greenfield-Central is back in action today when they travel to Alexandria to take on Alexandria-Monroe. First serve is scheduled for 5:00 pm.
