BROWNSTOWN — The Brownstown Central boys tennis team hosted nearby Austin on Thursday.
The Braves were sitting at 3-4 on the season heading into the contest and dropped the match 3-2 to the Eagles. Austin roared back after dropping two quick matches to win the meet.
Braves head coach Donnie Thomas spoke about the outcome of the meeting.
“It’s kind of disappointing to end up with a loss, especially after winning on two courts pretty quickly,” he said. “We weren’t able to finish some matches to secure the win, but the matches went three sets, so the effort was there.”
The Braves now sit at 3-5, but Thomas has felt like Brownstown is better than what its record says.
He spoke on the team’s performance up to this point in the season.
“There were three matches that I felt could’ve gone either way this season,” Thomas said. “They just didn’t go in our favor, just like tonight. I felt the team played well, and they gave it a good shot.”
In No. 1 singles, Javin Smith of the Eagles defeated Smith Hackman 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. At No. 2, Pierson Wheeler got a victory for the Braves against Grayson Squires, winning 6-3, 6-2.
The No. 3 matchup between Lane Steward and Brook Swank also went to the Braves. Steward took the match convincingly, winning 6-1, 6-2.
In the doubles competition, Austin was able to take both matchups to clinch the meet.
The No. 1 tandem of Xander Richie and Braydon Furnish defeated Chase Brock and Evan Schneider 6-2, 6-3.
In the second doubles match, Max Peters and Brady Davis competed for the Braves. They dropped their matchup with Orlando Nease and Carson Swank 7-6, 4-6, 2-6.
The Braves won’t get any rest as they travel to Scottsburg tonight for a matchup at 4:30 p.m.
The meeting is being made up from a postponement that took place a few weeks back during the heatwave in Jackson County.
The next home meeting for the Braves will be Tuesday against Corydon Central at 5:30 p.m.
“It was moved due to the extreme heat,” Thomas said. “We’ve had four matches this week, so it hasn’t been easy on the kids. It will be another tough matchup that could be close.”