LINDEN – In what was a learning experience for both teams on Saturday, the Crawfordsville boys’ tennis team was able to pick up a 4-1 victory over county rival North Montgomery in a non-conference matchup.
The only loss for the Athenians (1-2) came at No. 2 doubles where the duo of Nate McCoy and Brooks Walters came away with a 6-2, 6-3 win over the freshman tandem of James Novak and Thomas Bowling.
“This was a great match to get experience for our young guys,” second year coach Craig Brainard said. “It had the feel of a county and conference matchup even though it didn’t count in the standings.”
Even in the loss, the duo of Bowling and Novak stood out to Brainard.
“I thought they played with a lot more energy today,” he said. “They won more games today than they did in our previous two matches combined.”
“I really like the example that Austin (Motz), Thatcher (Gambrel), and our one doubles (Ziair Morgan and Zach Fichter) are setting for our freshman,” Brainard said. “Today was a great confidence booster going into next week where we’ll play some tough competition.”
Austin Motz won at No. 1 singles for the Athenians over Hunter Kashon, 6-1, 6-0. Thatcher Gambrel defeated Alex Chapman 6-0, 6-1 in the No. 2 slot, while James Murphy beat Haze Kashon 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.
Zach Fichter and Ziair Morgan handed Will McKinnis and Hayden Turner a 6-0, 6-1 loss at No. 1 doubles.
For the Chargers (0-1) this was their first match of the season. First year coach Rick Holtz used this match against the Athenians as a measuring stick for where his team is so far in the young season.
“It felt great to get out there and finally play against someone not wearing North Montgomery apparel,” Holtz said. “We’ve been working really hard and were ready for today, and you have to give Crawfordsville credit for how they played today.”
The key point that Holtz has stressed to his team is that he doesn’t want his team to get away from playing their style of tennis. He felt like that did get away from his team and that was one thing that did contribute to the loss.
“We just have to get back out there and go to work,” he said. “When we miss a shot, we need to forget about it and move on to the next one. I think they had those bad shots in the back of their minds and that led to them playing a little tentative.”
Crawfordsville will host Benton Central on Monday, while North Montgomery host Fountain Central on Tuesday.
