Fountain Central's Carson Eberly came from behind to beat Covington's Calvin Springer 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(3) to win the Wabash River Conference single's title on Monday night.
Fountain Central senior Denton Otero and double's partner Jacob Keeling fell 6-4, 7-5 to Covington's Myles and Nolan Potter in the Wabash River Conference double's semifinals on Monday evening.
VEEDERSBURG — A third time was not the charm for Covington’s Calvin Springer against Fountain Central’s Carson Eberly in the Wabash River Conference singles tournament finals on Monday evening at Fountain Central.
Meeting for a third time, Eberly overcame a 5-3 deficit in the third and decisive set to beat Springer for a third time this season 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(3) and take home the title.
“It was one point at a time,” Eberly said after completing the comeback.
Fountain Central coach Chris Webb was impressed with how the junior didn’t back down despite falling behind.
“Down 5-3 in the third set it would have been really easy to quit or pout or tighten up, and that’s when he produced some of his best tennis,” Webb said. “And I thought he played an exceptional first set, just everything went his way.”
Eberly dominated in the first set, and took a 2-0 lead in the second, but Springer won five straight games, before holding on for the 6-4 set win.
“A lot of improvement, he’s gotten a lot better,” Eberly said of Springer. “He comes to the net and he gets a lot of balls back and is really consistent.”
Both Eberly and Springer earned first-team all conference honors along with South Vermillion’s Brice Gilman and Parke Heritage’s Evan James.
Springer’s shown steady improvement in all three matches against Eberly this season, and a fourth match looms on Friday in a likely sectional final between the Mustangs and Trojans.
“Springer does a really nice job of enforcing his will on you,” Webb added. “So every short ball you can count on him coming in. He has such a variety to his game. He can slice, he can drive. He handles overheads well from the center of the court. Carson just had to scrap and dig and claw. Carson is a phenomenal athlete. He’s smart and gets to a lot of stuff on the court and pulled out the big shots when he needed them.”
Fountain Central defeated Covington 3-2 in the regular season, and won four of the five spots during the Bi-County tournament, but Webb knows a rematch will likely go right down to the wire.
“We’ve talked about them (Covington) all season long. It’s no surprise to us that they are right there,” he said. “They’re all tough, and they’re all gritty matches. There is no guarantees.”
A key match will be at No. 1 doubles, where Denton Otero and Jacob Keeling fell 6-4, 7-5 to Myles and Nolan Potter on Monday in the semi-finals, before the Potter brothers defeated South Vermillion’s Blake Boatman and Caiden Santos to the win the doubles tournament.
