FISHERS — Southmont’s Adam Cox concluded one of the most successful seasons in Southmont tennis history Saturday.
Cox competed at the IHSAA Regional at Fishers and advanced to the regional final with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Rossville’s Evan Lawson. That set up a match with Franklin County’s undefeated Jack Stirn.
Early on it looked as if Cox was on his way to being crowned the regional champion with a 6-2 first set win, however Cox found another foe, besides the one opposite him on the court. Cramping began to set in and limited Cox’s movement on the court. Stirn would take the next two sets to defeat Cox 2-6, 6-0, 6-2.
“Adam was able to keep pressure on him very well in that first set,” Southmont coach Nathan Poynter said. “We knew that he (Stirn) was a very good at hitting the ball. He was dominating until the cramps started to happen.”
Despite seeing his season come to an end in an unfortunate manner, Cox held his head high and was going to make sure he gave everything he had.
“God got me here so I just tried as much as a could as hard as I could and wasn’t to go down without a fight,” Cox said. “Coming into the match I made sure I listened to my coaches and made sure that I had fun out there. I really happy just to be here and was glad I could take a set off a tough player.”
When the cramping started, Poynter knew that it would probably spell the end of the match.
“At this level of the tournament you have to be able to cover the entire court,” he said. “He fought hard today and it’s nice to see somebody that wants to fight through the pain but he wasn’t able to move like he needed to and it’s a little disheartening, but there’s not much we could do at that point.”
Cox ended his junior season with an overall record of 19-2. Along with that record he helped lead the Mounties to a county championship and was named a sectional champion. The goal for Cox’s senior season? It’s always been team first.
“What I accomplished for my school and the county means a lot,” he said. “It was fun this year and I know this will motivate myself and hopefully my teammates as well to be here with me next season.”
