Trojans Sweep Knox In Strong Opener
BOURBON — Triton’s boys tennis team started the season with a statement win over defending Hoosier North Athletic Conference champion Knox at home Wednesday night.
The young Trojans collected wins at all five varsity positions on their way to a clean sweep of the rival Redskins in Bourbon.
“We did really well tonight. We looked at Knox; last year they lost a couple players so we didn’t take anything for granted when they came. They’ve been a pretty decent team the last few years. They’ve been the defending champs of the conference, so I told our guys we need to stay focused and play well, and we did. We do have a few new guys, and they stepped up and did really well,” said Triton head coach Al Peckham.
Not only did the Trojans earn the sweep, they did so in straight sets everywhere.
Tyler Heckaman and Jared Bules surrendered just one game en route to a 6-0, 6-1 defeat of Brock Taulbee and Josh Fletcher at 1 doubles, and varsity newcomers Cole McKenney and Chandler Westafer combined for a6-1, 6-2 victory over Carter Fornelli and Colin Bottorff at the 2 doubles spot. John Gardner’s 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Devan Himes started the Trojans’ singles sweep at the No. 1 spot, Gavin Greer topped Gabe Manning, 6-2, 6-3 at 3 singles, and Connor Large’s 6-4, 6-2 victory over Ethan Sanders in 2 singles play completed the whitewash.
“I didn’t know what to expect with a couple spots, like with the 2 doubles being in their first varsity match and the first time the’ve played doubles, really. They stepped up,” Peckham said. “Connor stepped up and played against a really nice guy, I thought. I felt like my 1s were strong. Just as long as they stay mentally strong — that’s a big key sometimes.”
Triton’s JV also won on two of three courts Wednesday.
The Trojans open at 1-0 both on the season and in HNAC play. They’ll return to action at home when they host Rochester at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
“It looks like we have a good start. Tomorrow we have Rochester, who is going to be a little bit better than them. So we’ll see our level after them, but I do see us better than I thought we were going to be, at least,” Peckham said.