LAPEL–A senior has a little extra experience to draw upon when facing a pressure situation in high school sports. Lapel senior Austin Lyons has seen plenty of high drama in his career with the Bulldogs on both the basketball court and the tennis courts. As Tuesday faded from afternoon to dusk, Lyons knew his team’s unbeaten season was on the line and his match would be the difference.
Despite being one game from a loss, he found a way to battle through fatigue and a competent opponent to keep the Bulldog streak alive.
Lyons roared back from down a set and 2-5 in the second to win 11 of the final 13 games for a 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 win over Carsen Gavin and boost the Bulldogs to a 3-2 win over the New Palestine Dragons.
Lapel improved to 10-0 on the season and will travel to Eastern Hancock for a 5 p.m. match Wednesday afternoon, but it isn’t likely that Lyons will be participating.
“(The coaches) told me during the match that if I win it, I could have the day off tomorrow,” Lyons said. “So, I’m looking forward to the day off.”
Joseph Conrad and Jesse McCurdy had already won the No.1 and No. 2 singles matches with relative ease, 6-1, 6-2 for Conrad and 6-0, 6-1 for McCurdy. But the two doubles matches had gone to the Dragons. Lyons new the team match was even and was coming down to him.
“When I was down in my second set 5-2, (assistant coach) Blake (Allen) came over to me and said, ‘whether we win or not depends on you,'” he said. “I was cheering on the doubles team while I was playing, but when I noticed that they went down, it felt like a giant weight was put on my back.”
At that moment, with fatigue setting in for both Lyons and Gavin, he took an extra moment to gather his thoughts and focus.
“Usually, when I feel pressure in basketball or tennis, I typically just close my eyes and take a deep breath,” Lyons said. “I calm my body down to where I can control it. Yes, I was tired, but I could control it.”
While he was calming himself, Gavin seemed to portray some frustration as Lyons clawed his way back into the match. Lyons credited his coaches with pointing this out and helping guide his strategy.
“They were making great calls on what I should do,” Lyons said. “And they recognized that the opponent was getting upset and tired.”
Coomer said having an experienced and athletic senior like Lyons is a big advantage for his team.
“He’s a good athlete,” Coomer said. “This being his fourth year playing and being an athletic-minded kid really helps too. He’s big time for us in that spot.”
Coomer added that coming from behind is nothing new to Lyons, although against an opponent like the Dragons, who defeated Delta earlier in the season, it was quite a feat for him to battle back.
“He’s done that before,” Coomer said. “Maybe, he doesn’t wait that long, until he’s a game from being done. He’s been through situations like that before. He’s a senior and I trust him in those situations.”
“It looked like he got his second wind,” Coomer added.