Teddy Littrell
INDIANAPOLIS — There were no real surprises for Columbus North coach Kendal Hammel in the IHSAA Boys Tennis State Finals.
No. 2 Homestead slipped past the No. 23 Bull Dogs 3-2 in Friday’s quarterfinals at North Central High School. The Spartans swept the three singles spots.
“The match overall went sort of like we expected it to,” Hammel said. “We knew their three singles spots were very strong, and we thought we had a shot in doubles. In singles, they were just better than us. We got beat by a better team when it came down to it.”
North had just two starters returning from last season’s team, which reached the quarters before losing to South Bend St. Joseph.
“I’m really proud of the team to get to where we did in state this year,” said Hammel, whose team won its eighth consecutive semistate last week. “Don’t know a lot of us thought we were going to be able to get there this year, but they really came through down the stretch in the tournament time. I think they are proud of themselves and what we did accomplish. It’s tough to lose a match, but we lost going down battling to a better team. We can look forward to next year and see what happens.”
Vince Sasse
Hammel was especially pleased that the Bull Dogs’ No. 1 doubles team of seniors Teddy Littrell and Vince Sasse remained unbeaten in the tournament by beating Will Miller and Gabe Pasalich 6-2, 6-1. Littrell and Sasse advanced to the state doubles competition Friday and Oct. 25 at Park Tudor.
“I’m really excited for them, Hammel said. ”They’ve had an up-and-down year with wins and losses. They played phenomenal today.”
Littrell, who played No. 3 singles last season, said the key Friday was setting the tone early.
“We won a quick service game and then looked for a break on their serves,” Littrell said. “We were holding our serves and keeping our foot on the gas. Keeping the pressure on them was the key to the match.”
Sasse said the partners focused on being patient.
“We took our time,” said Sasse, who played No. 1 doubles last season. “Every point was important to us. We reset after everything and that let us in a really good direction.”
While this year is their first as varsity partners, Sasse said they have played together since middle school.
Littrell said the key to their chemistry is off-the-court activities.
“We’ve been good friends since elementary school,” Littrell said. “It’s just connecting out of tennis, whether it’s hanging out or going fishing or working out together. We know we can trust one another. We know we can rely on one another to get the job done.”
They hope to do just that in the state doubles competition.
“I’m super excited. It’s our senior year, and we’re just trying to go out doing our best,” Sasse said. “I think we left 100 percent on the court today, and we’ll do the same next week.”
North’s No. 2 doubles team of sophomore Luca Devidze and senior Jaishal Padmanabhan outlasted Shamyant Boda and Connor Cook, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
At No. 1 singles, Homestead’s Joe Garrean topped freshman Alek Devidze 6-0, 6-2. The Spartans’ Ben Garrean didn’t drop a game in his victory over sophomore Max Wei at No. 2 singles. Eric Jin of Homestead (19-3) defeated senior Jace Branham 6-2, 6-1.
The Bull Dogs finished with a 15-7 record.
