Brownstown Central’s tennis team evened its Mid-Southern Conference record at 2-2 Thursday afternoon by blanking Corydon Central 5-0 at home.
Brownstown’s Pierson Wheeler was the first player off the courts with a 6-0, 6-0 triumph over Eli Kvialheim at No. 2 singles, and the rout was on.
Ethan Davis at No. 1 singles and Smith Hackman at No. 3 singles also dominated their matches. Davis won 6-0, 6-0 over Cooper Shireman, and Hackman was a 6-0, 6-3 winner over Cooper Desmond.
Braves coach Donnie Thomas was pleased the way his singles players dominated from the start.
“Singles did really well,” HE said. “Smith finally got a win there. I think he has won one, but he has played a couple tough matches. He had a sprained ankle in one match. He was up in the first set a few matches ago and then he couldn’t quite finish. He’d have won that if he wouldn’t have hurt his ankle. He’s keeping the ball in play. He’s doing well. We’re trying to get him to be a little more aggressive. He’s a typical number three, keeping the ball in play. He has played some good players.”
Davis raised his record to 8-2 for the season and said he is pleased with his success.
“I start off with a pretty hard serve and get that going, and then I try to get the ball deep and get up to the net and use my (6-2) height,” he said. “That seems to help since I can put balls away at the net.”
Davis feels like he can get on top of the ball more on his serves with his power.
“It’s a mixture of top spin with a little bit of slice,” he said. “It’s kind of flat, too.”
Davis’ only two losses this season were to players from Silver Creek and Jennings County.
Brownstown’s Bryce Reaser and Ethan Garland defeated Ryan Hamilton and Sam Cox 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 1 doubles, while Grant Elliott and Lane Steward won 6-1, 6-1 over Trey Wiley and Mac Wilkinson at No. 2 doubles.
“No. 2 doubles came out strong and played well,” Thomas said. “Grant and Lane are playing pretty well together, a senior (Elliott) and a freshman.”
Junior Connor Gwin has missed some matches because of COVID-19, and Thomas said he will play a doubles match Thursday at Bedford North Lawrence.
The Braves are 5-3 overall in Thomas’ first season as head coach of the Braves. He said he is pleased with their progress.
“We let one slip away at Scottsburg, for sure,” he said. “I think if we played Jennings County later in the season, we might have been able to beat them. They played really well that night.”
Brownstown won all three junior varsity matches on Tuesday, as well. In singles, Landon Hehman won 8-3 and Jayse Davis won 8-2, while the doubles team of Elix Preston and Nick Minton won 8-2.