When Columbus North faces Park Tudor in a quarterfinal match in the Boys Tennis State Finals, the Bull Dogs will be making their first state appearance since 2008.
Veteran coach Kendal Hammel believes it will be the first time that North will have ever faced the Panthers. The 14th-ranked Bull Dogs (14-3) and the eighth-ranked Park Tudor (18-4) will square off at 11 a.m. Friday at Center Grove.
“Talking to other coaches and looking at comparisons of match score situations to try to find out a little bit about them,” Hammel said. “They definitely go strong in the singles positions, and that is their three strong spots.”
An interesting tidbit in the draw is that on one half of the bracket four of the top five teams in the state will face off in Carmel. The quarterfinal matches features top-ranked Carmel (17-0) and No. 2 Homestead (21-1) in one match and No. 4 Floyd Central (22-1) and No. 5 Center Grove (20-4) in the other match.
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In Columbus North’s side of the bracket, should the Bull Dogs advance, they will face either No. 3 North Central (15-2) or No. 23 Culver Academies (18-4) in the semifinals. The semifinals and final are Saturday at North Central.
No. 1 singles player Kevin Lin and No. 1 doubles players Nathan Lin and Adam Saad are still unbeaten in the state tournament. Should Columbus North lose as a team Friday or Saturday and those players are still unbeaten, they will advance to the individual tournament played Oct. 19-20 at Park Tudor.
The Bull Dogs are slight underdogs heading into the match, but Hammel says that the doubles positions will be key if Columbus North wants to pull off the upset. Matthew Liu and Joey Zhao are the No. 2 doubles players.
“We’ve got to win both doubles positions and somehow try find a singles spot somewhere,” Hammel said. “I know Kevin’s (opponent) from Park Tudor is supposed to be really good. I haven’t seen him play, but Kevin has been playing really well. Who knows in a one-day situation? Just from hearing things and looking at stuff that we should have the advantage in the doubles and then try to find that one singles spot.”
It will be new territory for all of the Bull Dog players — including No. 2 singles player Bhavey Jain and No. 3 singles player Eamon Ma — playing in their first state finals. With the atmosphere expected to be loud and intense, the pressure also increases.
“We have to go in and believe that we are the stronger team,” Saad said. “We can’t look at rankings and say that (Park Tudor) is ranked above us, so we’ll lose automatically. We can’t go out like that. We have to go out there thinking we can win.”
Hammel thinks the team is ready to handle the pressure.
“I think playing in the semistate the way it came down with all of the ups and downs and the cheering and the disappointments, I think it will carry over to state,” Hammel said. “It is a similar situation, atmosphere-wise, but it is state, and it is different. Hopefully, they will get over that very quickly and move on and start playing like they should be playing.”
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Boys Tennis State Finals
Admission: $5 per day
Friday at Center Grove
No. 14 Columbus North (14-3) vs. No. 8 Park Tudor (18-4), 11 a.m.
No. 3 North Central (15-2) vs. No. 23 Culver Academies (18-4), 11 a.m.
Friday at Carmel
No. 4 Floyd Central (22-1) vs. No. 5 Center Grove (20-4), 3 p.m.
No. 1 Carmel (17-0) vs. No. 2 Homestead (21-1), 3 p.m.
Saturday at North Central
10 a.m.: Semifinals
2 p.m.: Championship
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