Mt. Vernon’s Adam Koon serves against Pendleton Heights, Wednesday, Sept. 28 in a team sectional match. Koon had his record-setting season come to an end Wednesday in the singles tournament championship at Fishers High School.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
By Brady Extin | Daily Reporter
FISHERS – Adam Koon’s record-setting season came to an end Wednesday night at Fishers High School.
In the individual sectional championship, the Mt. Vernon junior was defeated by Fishers’ Reese Knoderer in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.
“In tennis, the player that makes the least amount of mistakes usually wins, and we had a lot of mistakes today,” Mt. Vernon head coach Gabe Muterspaugh said. “But Reese Knoderer can make you do that. He’s got great hands, he’s a good player, he’s an all-state player, but Adam was right there.”
In set one, Koon fell behind 4-1 before taking back-to-back games. At 4-3, he held serve and had a chance to tie things up, but Knoderer outlasted him on some long volleys to go up 5-3 and eventually take the set.
“I played pretty good, but the big points at the end of games lost me the match,” Koon said. “On the big points, I just broke down a little bit. He was a little bit smarter, and was just able to win those points over me.”
The second set was more of the same. After falling down 3-0, Koon once again stormed back to get things to 4-3. Cramping in his right arm all but sealed Koon’s fate. After a medical timeout, he dropped the last two games.
“The opportunities were there. It’s never fun to lose, but the best thing is we’ve got him coming back. He’s got time to get even better,” Muterspaugh said. “He lost last year in the sectional and this year he’s losing to an all-state player, but he’s going 3-3 and had opportunities to win. He left a lot out there today.”
“I thought I played well. I thought I played up to his level,” Koon said. “He just played really well, so good for him.”
Koon’s opponent, Knoderer, was ranked fourth in the state coming into the match, but that didn’t bother Koon.
“It doesn’t really bother me, but you know, obviously you look at the rankings. I knew he was a good player,” Koon said. “It was almost more of an advantage for me because what do I have to lose playing him. He had more to lose against me.”
With the loss, Koon ended the season with a 24-2 record. His 24 wins are a Mt. Vernon school record.
“It’s been a great season. I’m glad he’s on our team. I’ll take Adam all day long,” Muterspaugh said. “He plays the right way with class and character. He’s got a very bright future, and I’m excited to see where he’s going to be next year.”
