BLOOMINGTON — A rematch has been set after the 14th-ranked Columbus North boys tennis team wasted no time dismantling Seymour 5-0 in the Bloomington North Regional semifinals.
The Bull Dogs (12-3) move on to face Bloomington South, which defeated Greensburg 4-1 in the other semifinal match, in today’s regional final. Columbus North beat the Panthers 3-2 in the regular season.
“We have to go in playing better than we did last time in specific positions,” North coach Kendal Hammel said. “We really need to make sure that we win both of the doubles positions because that will be the key, and then get one of the singles matches. Kevin (Lin) has been playing really well and had a good match against them, but he has got to keep the same intensity.”
Lin defeated Adam Berry 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles. In the No. 2 singles match, Bhavey Jain defeated Isaac Hardin 6-3, 6-2.
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The most competitive match on the scoreboard was the No. 3 singles match with Seymour’s Trey Hohenstreiter and Columbus North’s Eamon Ma. Ma took a close first set 6-4 and then prevailed 6-2 in the second set.
“I started moving my feet more and getting more energetic,” Ma said. “I didn’t want to get sluggish.”
At No. 1 doubles, Adam Saad and Nathan Lin beat Brandon Hubbard and Will Rinehart 6-2, 6-1. At No. 2 doubles, Joey Zhao and Matthew Liu defeated Sam Schmidt and Andrew Levine 6-1, 6-0.
“We just need to come out a little more hungry and show that we really want this,” Hammel said. “I was a little disappointed tonight at the lackluster effort of just walking through and doing things and not getting fired up about how fun this is and what this means for us for that next step. I’m hoping after a talk tonight that they come out showing more enthusiasm and desire that they really want to win this because going out there and playing is not going to do the job.”
Ma wasn’t in the lineup when the Bull Dogs faced Bloomington South earlier in the season.
“I need to make sure that I stay aggressive and not play tentative,” Ma said. “I need to make sure that I don’t miss a lot.”
Hauser doubles advances
Hauser’s Aaron Mee and Jacob Luken advanced in the individual doubles tournament with a 6-1, 6-2 win against Columbus East’s JT Kuhlman and Jalen Pleak.
The Jets duo will play the No. 1 doubles team from Greensburg in the sectional finals either today at Bloomington North or Saturday at Bedford North Lawrence.
