Published: October 12, 2008 01:14 am            

TENNIS SEMISTATE: Old nemesis ends Highlanders’ season again

JASPER — For the last two years, the Floyd Central boys’ tennis team has had a talented group of players capable of returning to the IHSAA State Finals.

Unfortunately during those two seasons, another great program has stood in the Highlanders’ way of making it back to Indianapolis — Columbus North.

On Saturday in the Jasper Semistate final, the 12th-ranked Bull Dogs swept Floyd Central 5-0 and earned themselves a trip to the state finals next weekend at Indianapolis North Central. North defeated the Highlanders in last year’s semifinal of the semistate 3-2. The Bull Dogs also won this year’s regular-season meeting, 3-2.

The Highlanders finished the season 13-10 in dual meets and ranked 16th in the final state coaches’ poll.

“I’ve got to give Columbus North all the credit,” Floyd head coach Rick Miller said. “We looked a little flat and maybe a little tired. We had some tough matches this morning (in a semifinal win over Terre Haute North).

“There are no excuses. Columbus North played great today.”

The Bull Dogs (17-2) collected their first two points with straight-set wins at No. 2 singles and No. 2 doubles. At two singles, Columbus North’s Robert Nieters ended the stellar season of Highlander senior Adam Struble, 6-3, 6-2.

Then at two doubles, the Floyd tandem of Ryan Smith and Luke Schreiber lost 6-2, 6-3 to the Bull Dogs’ Brandon Hedrick and Sean Mahoney.

“Two doubles and two singles were the keys for us, and we really needed those guys to play well today,” Miller said. “Obviously, they didn’t get the job done. I know they wanted to win and they played hard.”

Columbus North clinched the semistate at No. 1 doubles, where Chase Harris and David Nieters downed the Highlanders’ Evan Winders and Brad Emerson, 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-3.

The final two matches went three sets. At No. 3 singles, North’s Caleb Fuller defeated Floyd senior Geordie Crone, 7-6(1), 2-6, 6-1.

At No. 1 singles, Highlander senior Ben Boesing had his high school career end against Austin Smith, 6-7(4), 6-2, 3-0 ret. Boesing retired from the match due to a leg cramp, which he battled for the second half of the match. Smith also was suffering from a leg cramp on an unseasonably sultry day.

“Things happen, especially in this kind of weather,” Miller said. “We’ve had beautiful, cool weather with low humidity for a long time. Then all of a sudden, we get a day like today.”

The Highlanders lose five seniors from their starting lineup. But Miller is optimistic about the future of his team, as several promising eighth-graders will be entering the program.

“Next year is going to be a tough year because we’ve got so many young guys,” Miller said. “We’re going to have a bunch of freshmen coming in next year that are really good. We just won the Clark-Floyd (middle school) tournament today. That’s a good sign.”



FLOYD-TERRE HAUTE NORTH

In their semifinal, the Highlanders turned an even matchup on paper into a mismatch, defeating No. 10 Terre Haute North 4-1. The Patriots ended their season at 17-3.

Floyd dominated at one and two singles. At No. 1, Boesing upended the Patriots’ Todd Butwin, 6-2, 6-3. Struble easily won at two singles over Terre Haute North’s Nick Roby, 6-3, 6-3.

Crone competed in the only three-set match, beating the Patriots’ Chris Halcomb 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. Floyd’s other point was at No. 2 doubles, as Smith and Schreiber beat Parker Fulkerson and Nate Sanders, 6-3, 7-5.

The Highlanders’ lone setback was at No. 1 doubles. Winders and Emerson fell to the Patriot tandem of Drew Holcomb and Michael Eberle, 6-4, 7-6(3).

“They’re a young team. They had two or three freshmen playing. And when you’ve got seniors like we do, if you’ve got a good senior and a good freshman, the good senior is going to win 99 percent of the time,” Miller said. “That’s what kind of happened this morning. The senior leadership showed this morning.”

Note: Struble and Boesing will both compete in the Indiana All-Star tournament on Nov. 4 at DePauw University in Greencastle. Both will be members of the Southeastern Indiana team.



JASPER SEMISTATE

SEMIFINAL

Floyd Central 4, Terre Haute North 1

Singles — Boesing (F) d. Butwin 6-2, 6-3; Struble (F) d. Roby 6-3, 6-3; Crone (F) d. Halcomb 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.

Doubles — Holcomb-Eberle (T) d. Winders-Emerson 6-4, 7-6(3); Smith-Schreiber (F) d. Fulkerson-Sanders 6-3, 7-5.



CHAMPIONSHIP

Columbus North 5, Floyd Central 0

Singles — Smith d. Boesing 6-7(4), 6-2, 3-0 ret., R. Nieters d. Struble 6-3, 6-2; Fuller d. Crone 7-6(1), 2-6, 6-1.

Doubles — Harris-D. Nieters d. Winders-Emerson 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-3; Hedrick-Mahoney d. Smith-Schreiber 6-2, 6-3.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.