Arabians doubles team advances

0

FORTVILLE — Pendleton Heights’ team season came to an end last week, but the individual portion continued.

The Arabians lost 4-1 to Mt. Vernon in the first round of Mt. Vernon Sectional 47 of the Indiana High School Athletic Association’s Boys Tennis State Tournament on Wednesday, Sept. 28.

At No. 1 doubles, and the final match to be decided, Pendleton Heights seniors Cole Bubenzer and Mark Nielsen defeated Robbie Moore and Bryndan Wylie 6-3, 7-5.

With the win, Bubenzer-Nielsen advanced to Tuesday’s individual state tournament sectional round at Fishers High School. They were scheduled to play against the Eastern Hancock team of Bryce Wennen and Myles Wennen. It’ll be the second matchup between the Arabians and Royals teams.

On Tuesday, Sept. 27, in the final regular-season match for both programs, Eastern Hancock defeated Pendleton Heights 5-0, it included a 6-1, 6-2 victory by the Wennens against the Arabian seniors.

“They’ve been struggling a little bit the last couple of matches, but they were able to pull it together,” Pendleton Heights coach Royce Hammel said of Bubenzer-Nielsen. “They final put some shots and some games together.”

In other matches against Mt. Vernon, Sam Bowers lost at No. 1 singles to Mt. Vernon standout Adam Koon, 6-1, 6-0. At No. 2, Austin Perny was defeated by Manny Downs 6-0, 6-1. In the No. 3 singles match, Cove Ritchey lost 6-2, 6-2 to Tate Cougill.

In the No. 2 doubles match, Ben Caldwell and Isaac Elizondo lost 6-3, 6-1 to Matt Jones and Max Orelup.

“Their No. 1 is just phenomenal,” Hammel said. “(Their No. 1 and No. 2) play two different games. (Koon) just rears back and lets in fly. (Downs) is more deliberate, methodical, keeps it in play and works on getting put away shots. It’s nice to be able to go out knowing you have some points before the game starts. (Mt. Vernon) has a good team, and they’ll even be better next year.”

Koon improved to 21-1 with his win. Downs upped his record to 18-4.

The Arabians finished the season 6-13.

It’s the third time in four seasons a Pendleton Heights No. 1 doubles team advanced to the individual tournament. Logan Jones and Blake Stoker advanced last year. Jackson McKinney and Kaleb Alumbaugh moved on in 2019.

“The first half of the year (Bubenzer-Nielsen) played really well,” Hammel added. “They ran into some tough teams in the last half (of the season). We had the same situation last year (with Jones-Stoker). It’s always fun going over (to the individual tournament) to watch them play.”

No posts to display