Southmont's Trevor McKinney defeated Fountain Central's Cody Linville 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to seal a 3-2 match win for the Mounties.
NEW MARKET — Just as many expected, Fountain Central and Southmont's tennis tussle came down to the last match on Wednesday evening at Southmont.
Trailing one set to none, Fountain Central's Cody Linville bounced back with a 6-3 win in set No. 2 to force a third and decisive set against Southmont's Trevor McKinney at No. 2 singles.
With the other four matches final and the team score locked at 2-2, all eyes turned to one court.
"We talked quite a bit in the first set and then early in the second set, it seemed like he was off balance and his feet were coming off the ground, and he was leaving a lot of balls short," Fountain Central coach Chris Webb said. "I felt like there in the middle of the second set Cody started hitting the ball with a little more depth and the other kid started leaving it a little bit short. That match was controlled by who hit it with better depth."
McKinney did not back down in the third set, jumping out to a quick lead and cruising to a 6-2 win to win the match 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
"That was a very close match all the way through," Southmont coach Nathan Poynter said. "It was good to see more of what you expect a senior to do, and just stay with it and stay positive and keep fighting. And he did that very well today."
At No. 1 singles Fountain Central's Carson Eberly defeated Adam Cox 6-4, 6-3. Cox suffered a leg injury early in the match, but battled through it.
"Carson did a really nice job of mixing together patient tennis with aggressive tennis," Webb said. "If Adam left a ball short, Carson did a good job with approaching."
Southmont (2-1) picked up their other two points with a win at No. 3 singles by Conner McVay 6-1, 6-1 over Brent Myers, and by the duo of Reese Long and Micah Korhorn 6-4, 6-1 over Denton Otero and Jacob Keeling at No. 1 doubles.
"We kind of demand that, and not just expect it," Poynter said about the improvement from his No. 1 doubles team. "And they will when they start to loosen up and play better. It's mainly playing too tense. I'm sure time will take care of that, and today was better."
Sawyer Keeling and CJ Yager defeated EJ Brewer and Luke Tesmer at No. 2 doubles 6-4, 6-1 for the other Fountain Central (1-2) point.
Athenian tennis falls at BC
The Crawfordsville boy's tennis team traveled to Benton Central on Thursday and fell to the Bison 4-1.
Austin Motz picked up a win at No. 1 singles 6-3, 6-3 over Alex Thurston.
At No. 2 singles Thatcher Gambrel fell 6-2, 6-3 to Cael Williams, while Peyton Groumoutis lost 6-0, 6-1 to Blake Buchanan 6-0, 6-1.
In the No. 1 doubles spot Owen Bennett and Zach Fichter fell to Kolton Goodman and Nick Fry 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. The duo of Austin Hicke and Zaire Morgan fell 6-3, 6-2 to Alex Brocon and Kyron Deno at No. 2 doubles.
Mounties golf stays hot
Southmont's girls golf team picked up another pair of Sagamore Conference wins with a 181 on Wednesday. Western Boone fired a 195, and Frankfort a 196.
Bailey Thompson was the medalist with a 40, while Erin Williams fired a 44. Logan Berrisford shot a 48, Carson White a 49, and Macie Shirk a 49. Lexi Rusk and Taylor Grino each fired a 51, while Mandy Rodgers shot a 59.
CHS girls soccer drops SAC match
Crawfordsville's girls soccer team dropped a 5-2 Sagamore Conference match to Frankfort on Wednesday.
Lorelei Schmitzer Torbert netted a goal and an assist, while Pitchaya Ruby scored her first goal of the season.
Athenians highlights in 3-0 win over Riverton Parke
Crawfordsville's volleyball team put up impressive numbers in its 3-0 win over Riverton Parke on Tuesday.
Macy Bruton had 17 kills and 11 aces, while Abby Bannon had 11 kills, three digs, and four aces.
Laine Schlicher had 24 assists, and three digs, while Olivia Reed added five digs and a pair of aces. Isabel Viveros had eight assists.
Crawfordsville is now 3-3 on the season and back in action on Thursday at Seeger, with the game being played at Williamsport.
