Columbus East’s Erik Takahashi returns a shot in a No. 1 singles sectional tennis match against Edinburgh’s Max Blandford at Columbus North High School in Columbus, Ind., Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
The Columbus East boys tennis team made quick work in the doubles matches, but they made coach Matt Malinsky sweat a little for the third point Wednesday.
The singles matches were much closer, with one of them going three sets. The Olympians, however, took care of business at all three positions in securing a 5-0 victory in the opening round of the Columbus North Sectional.
East moves on to face Hauser in the semifinal scheduled for 4:30 p.m. today.
“We won the doubles in what seemed like a really short time. We won those pretty quickly,” Malinsky said. “The other three matches turned out to be epic. I was wondering if we were going to pull off a third one. Fortunately, we got to win in straight sets at 2 singles, and the other two finished within minutes of each other. I was happy to pull that out after 2 singles finished.”
The Olympians (7-14) got on the board quickly in picking up victories in the doubles matches. At No. 1 doubles, Jacob Dettmer and Ethan Bumbalough downed Braylon Lenkner and Bailey Totten. At No. 2 doubles, Tyler Ernst and Henry Ulrich topped Teddy Crawhorn and Jayson Music 6-1, 6-0.
The singles matches were much closer. At No. 1 singles, Erik Takahashi defeated Max Blandford 6-4, 7-6 (3). At No. 2 singles, Matthew Degner won against Austin Brockman 6-4, 6-3. At No. 3 singles, Brady Redelman defeated Milas Burkman 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Edinburgh coach Pete Khensouri was proud of the season his team had.
“We’ve been improving a whole lot. We’re a very, very young team,” Khensouri said. “They’ve worked so hard, and I’m proud of my kids. They’ve come a long way.”
The Lancers (8-13) lose only Blandford for next year, and the future looks to be in good hands.
“We only lose one senior. All of them have improved a lot,” Khensouri said. “Next year, we will change it up. Some may play singles, but we’ll see. I’m looking forward to the new season again.”
Malinsky looks forward to the challenge ahead with Hauser.
“I sure hope it’s not the same type of situation as it was tonight. I hope we do a little more straight forward, and I hope they won’t make me sweat as much,” Malinsky said. “However, we can get the win, I’ll take it, but hopefully, it’s a little bit less dramatic.”
Fourth-ranked Columbus North plays Brown County in today’s other 4:30 p.m. semifinal. The sectional final is at 4:30 p.m. Friday.
