The Seymour boys’ tennis team feels good going into next week’s Hoosier Hills Conference tournament.
Seymour blanked Columbus East 5-0 on Thursday, moving the Owls’ record to 6-4 on the season.
Four of the Owls’ wins in 2017 have come against HHC opponents.
The Owls didn’t waste much time taking the match, sweeping the singles positions to guarantee victory.
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At No. 1 singles, Ty McCory topped East’s Jackson Stevens 6-0, 6-1.
Adam Berry bested Nathan Hatchett 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2 singles while Isaac Hardin claimed No. 3 singles over Jalen Pleak 6-3, 6-1.
“I’m really happy with singles,” Owls coach Brad Emerson said. “They took care of business. They all came off the court early.”
The No. 1 doubles team of Will Rineheart and Sam Schmidt defeated Pranav Kumar and Luke Miller 6-1, 6-2 before the final match came off the court.
Seymour’s No. 2 doubles tandem of Brandon Hubbard and Trey Hohenstreiter went the distance against the Olympians’ Bryce Buening and Caige Comstock.
After dropping the first set 6-3, Hubbard and Hohenstreiter stormed back to claim the second 7-5.
In a third set super tiebreaker, Hubbard and Hohenstreiter built a 4-1 lead, but East came back to tie it at 7-7.
The Owls broke serve and held a pair of serves by Hohenstreiter to win the next three points.
“I think they started getting a little more aggressive and consistent with their ground strokes,” Emerson said. “I think East’s game dropped a little bit. It was a little bit of a roller coaster ride, but that’s tennis.”
Seymour will be off until Monday, when they host New Albany for the first round of the conference tourney.
Earlier in the season, the Bulldogs handed the Owls a 5-0 loss.
“We’re playing pretty well — especially in the singles,” Emerson said. “Our doubles have been a little bit of a struggle, but our No. 1 doubles is playing better. I’ve seen some good improvements from them.”
