Going into Tuesday’s crosstown boys tennis match, sixth-ranked Columbus North had a clear edge over Columbus East.
That advantage played out on the courts for the Bull Dogs. They dropped only five games in the five matches in claiming a 5-0 victory in their dual match opener.
“For the first dual match of the year, we did OK,” said North coach Kendal Hammel, whose team won the Jeffersonville Invitational over the weekend. “We wanted to make sure we just didn’t get sloppy. Doubles tried to work on some specific things and just play.”
Those doubles matches were the first off the court for the Bull Dogs. Will King and Eamon Ma beat Wyatt Romine and Caleb Wettschurack 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 doubles, and Joey Zhao and Matthew Liu topped Emmitt Romine and Matthew Degner 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 doubles.
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North clinched the victory when Nathan Lin blanked Pranav Kumar 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.
“I started out a little rough and then pulled through in the end when I played a little more consistent and more aggressive,” Lin said. “The first few matches of the season should be relatively easy, but as the season goes on, it’s going to be a lot more challenging.”
The Bull Dogs’ Bhavey Jain beat Derek Heideman 6-0, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. Adam Saad topped Danny Murphy 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.
“We were probably overmatched experience-wise and skill level-wise,” East coach Matt Malinsky said. “They worked really hard the last couple of weeks to try to improve upon their fundamentals and technique. The guys on the varsity are already good athletes, so it’s just a matter of trying to cheat that learning curve for tennis-specific skills, and I think they did a pretty good job of that tonight.”
The Olympians (0-3) made an improvement after winning only two games against North in last season’s early-season match.
“I think we’re competing really hard,” Malinsky said. “We got a few games here and there, and going into the match, I don’t know if it was a certainty that we would be able to do that. So I feel pretty good about their performance.”
