BOYS TENNIS: Mounties Sweep Athenians

Southmont’s boys tennis team checked off box No. 1 en route to a county title, and gave the Mounties another pair of Journal Review County Chase points with a 5-0 win over Crawfordsville on Thursday.

At No. 1 singles Adam Cox outworked over Austin Motz for a 6-1, 6-1 win. 

In a matchup of freshman (Cox) against a sophomore (Motz), the score didn’t indicate Motz’ improvement as both teams near the midway point on the season, but first-year Crawfordsville coach Craig Brainard can see it.

“I’ve seen a big improvement from him stamina wise from the beginning of the year,” Craig said. “He’s done better at moving his opponent around, and being consistent. I saw a lot of good down the line shots, good backhands, and a lot of good hustle for balls that were close.”

Southmont, who improves to 8-2 with the win made quick work of the Athenians at both doubles positions. 

At No. 2 doubles Luke Tesmer and EJ Brewer beat Ziair Morgan and Austin Heeke 6-0, 6-0, while Reese Long and Micah Korhorn beat Owen Bennett and Zach Fichter 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles.

“They’re starting to loosen up every match,” Southmont coach Poynter said about his No. 1 doubles team. “They’ve had some matches here lately where they’ve really loosened up and hitting out on the ball a lot of better. We kind of demand they be playing a whole lot looser by the end of the season anyway. That’s going to be a pretty big point for us. No. 1 doubles is just going to have to come around for us.”

Trevor McKinney won 6-2, 6-2 over Thatcher Gambrel at No. 2 singles, while Conner McVay beat Peyton Groumoutis 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 3 position.

Southmont hosts Frankfort on Tuesday, while Crawfordsville hosts the Macy Invitational on Saturday.

“I think we have been fairly competitive and are going to be competitive throughout our season,” Poynter said about the Mounties halfway through the season. “We do have some pretty high goals.”