Columbus North started off slow at a couple of positions Thursday night, but both spots came through with victories.
That enabled the co-No. 23-ranked Bull Dogs to finish off a 5-0 Conference Indiana boys tennis victory against Southport and post its second win in as many dual matches.
Kevin Lin gave the Bull Dogs their first win of the evening when he rolled to a 6-0, 6-2 victory against Noah Hall at No. 1 singles.
“There were definitely things I could have worked on,” Lin said. “I had double faults and wasn’t stepping into the ball, but overall, I thought I played pretty well. Starting off the season with two wins should help get the team going.”
At about the same time Lin was finishing off his win, North’s Chris Ruble and Adam Saad completed a 6-0, 6-2 victory against Seejay Patel and John Gunderson at No. 2 doubles.
Soon after, Isaac Jackson and Ben Mathew beat Noah Thomas and Zach Bozarth 6-1, 6-2 at No. 1 doubles.
“The other three positions, there wasn’t really much doubt from the very beginning,” North coach Kendal Hammel said. “They all went out there right off the bat and took care of business like they should have.”
The other two did not go quite as fast. The Bull Dogs fell behind by a set at both No. 2 singles and No. 3 singles.
Akshaya Sabapathy rallied for a 4-6, 6-1, (10-7) win against Robert Ceu Uk at No. 3 singles. No. 2 singles also went to a third-set supertiebreaker, with Joey Zhao posting a come-from-behind 0-6, 6-1, (10-8) win against Colston Streit.
“Two and 3 singles I thought went out the first set thinking it was going to be an easy match,” Hammel said. “They did not play well, but give them credit. They both stepped it up, improved their games in the second sets and carried it over to the third sets.”
North, which was coming off a 5-0 win against Columbus East in its dual match opener on Tuesday, was playing its first Conference Indiana match of the season.
