Teddy Littrell
INDIANAPOLIS — Teddy Littrell and Vince Sasse got off to a sizzling start and had chances in Friday afternoon’s State Doubles quarterfinals at Park Tudor, but in the end, Brownsburg juniors Ethan Cougill and Skyler Rose were a little too powerful.
The Brownsburg duo rallied for a 6-2, 6-2 victory against Littrell and Sasse, who had qualified for the doubles portion of the individual tournament by remaining undefeated throughout the postseason. The North pair, both seniors, finished the season 17-9.
“They played well in the state,” North coach Kendal Hammel said. “They played nice matches against Cathedral and Homestead. It’s tough to lose, but a lot of good memories from what they did this year.”
Vince Sasse
Littrell and Sasse jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first set and were within a point of a 3-0 lead when they were up 40-15 in the third game. But Brownsburg came back to win that game, then took five more to win the first set.
“We had chances,” Hammel said. “If we could have gone up 3-0, it probably could have changed some things. Then, there were more games where we had leads, and we couldn’t close it out.”
While Litrell and Sasse had a first-round bye, Cougill and Rose had to win a first-round match against Westview Friday morning to advance to the quarterfinals. The semifinals and final are Saturday.
“That’s a really good, solid team,” Hammel said. “That’s exactly how we thought they were going to play against us. They hit a lot of overheads. As tight as they played to the net, we had to hit it over their heads, and if we left it short, they made us pay for it for sure.
“We got beat by better team,” he added. “We have to keep our heads high. There’s nothing to be ashamed about getting beat by a great team today, for sure. We were right there with them.”
