Columbus North’s Hank Lin hits a shot during a No. 1 singles tennis match against Columbus East’s Erik Takahashi at Columbus East High School in Columbus, Ind., Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022.
The Republic file photo
Fourth-ranked Columbus North will be the overwhelming favorite heading into this week’s North boys tennis sectional.
The Bull Dogs, along with Columbus East, Hauser, Brown County and Edinburgh will be the five teams competing at North. The IHSAA announced the tournament draws Monday night, with play beginning on Wednesday.
“Obviously, in the sectional, we’re the heavily favored team. With that in mind, we go in there and just play like we should. We had a lot of 6-0, 6-0 in our matches, and that’s what I expect from these guys going right now,” North coach Kendal Hammel said. “If we don’t slack off on anything and keep on playing, we know that the regionals is going to be our really big, big competition against one of the Bloomington schools. It’s not a cakewalk like its been sometimes in past years. We’ll have to step up and be ready. Even though the sectional may not be as strong and we’re going to be the favorite, we have to go in there and do the same things in preparation thinking mentally to be ready for the next round.”
Columbus East’s Erik Takahashi hits a shot during a No. 1 singles tennis match against Columbus North’s Hank Lin at Columbus East High School in Columbus, Ind., Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022.
The Republic file photo
East and Edinburgh will meet in in the opening round at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. The winner will face Hauser in the semifinals at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
In Thursday’s other semifinal, also starting at 4:30 p.m., the host Bull Dogs will take on Brown County. The winners of the semifinal matches will play for the championship at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.
In the Jennings County Sectional, host Jennings will take on Madison in the semifinals with Greensburg and Southwestern (Hanover) squaring off in the other semifinal.
In the Seymour Sectional, Austin and Brownstown Central will meet in the opening round. The winner faces Scottsburg in the semifinals. Trinity Lutheran takes on Seymour in the other semifinal.
Whoever gets past the Columbus North Sectional would face the winner of the Jennings County Sectional in the semifinals of the Bloomington North Regional on Oct. 4, while the Seymour Sectional winner takes on the Bloomington South Sectional winner in the other regional semifinal. The regional final is scheduled for Oct. 5.
The Bloomington North Regional winner plays the Evansville Bosse Regional winner in the Jasper Semistate on Oct. 8 for a spot in the state quarterfinals. The state quarterfinals are slated to take place on Oct. 14, with the semifinals and final taking place on Oct. 15.
Should Columbus North get that far, they’d be on a collision course to face second-ranked Carmel in the quarterfinals at Carmel. The Greyhounds won 3-2 in a regular-season match on Aug. 30.
