No one can accuse Ethan Gray of sidestepping quality competition on the way to his latest accolade.
The Greenwood junior, the Daily Journal’s Player of the Year in boys tennis, found himself across the net from some of the state’s best players and still finished with a 17-5 record.
Every match contained its teaching moments, ones Gray will likely benefit from in his final high school season next fall.
His season ended when he lost to Perry Meridian senior Sajin Smith, 6-4, 6-4, in a regional match. The Ball State-bound Smith won his first 27 matches this season before losing to Carmel senior Presley Thieneman in the state championship match.
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“I gained a lot of experience playing Sajin as much as I did,” said Gray, who lost three of his matches this season to Smith, including the No. 1 singles title match at the Mid-State Conference tournament. “Playing No. 1 lets me play the best the other school has to offer, and I want to be the best.
“I like that aspect of it. The competition.”
Woodmen coach Jeremy Runge saw improvement in Gray as the season wore on. Gray won two of three matches against Whiteland junior Quinten Gillespie. His other loss was to of fourth-ranked Columbus North.
“Three of Ethan’s losses were to Sajin, and each loss was closer and closer and closer, so there was improvement every time. To me, the record is not indicative of how good Ethan is,” Runge said. “Honestly, his biggest improvement this season was patience.
“If he does that more consistently, the sky is the limit. Ethan strokes the ball incredibly well, but his shot selection is the difference.”
Greenwood’s top player the last two seasons, Gray was 12-6 as a sophomore. He improved between seasons, and plans to again before taking the court for the Woodmen as a senior.
“I want to work on my volleys and want my second serve to be more consistent,” he said. “I want the second serve to be deeper so the other player can’t attack it.”
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The 2019 All-County team for boys tennis:
Singles
Quinten Gillespie, Whiteland junior: An All-County choice for the third consecutive season after posting 21-4 record at No. 1 singles … Placed third at Mid-State Conference tournament … Second team All-State.
Ethan Gray, Greenwood junior: Finished with a 17-5 mark for the Woodmen as team’s top singles player … Runner-up at Mid-State Conference tournament … Second team All-State and a sectional finalist.
Mason Runkle, Center Grove senior: Made the switch to No. 1 and produced a 9-14 record for a squad that advanced to semistate … played doubles in the MIC tournament, finishing third … Honorable mention All-State singles.
Garrison Pelfree, Whiteland senior: Was undefeated most the season at No. 2 singles before settling in with a final record of 23-1 … Mid-State Conference champion at second singles … Honorable mention All-State.
Luke Embrey, Center Grove junior: Mostly played No. 2 singles, finishing with an 18-5 record … played No. 1 singles at MIC tournament, finishing third … Honorable mention All-State.
Doubles
Dylan Gross, Whiteland sophomore, and Lane Stephenson, Whiteland senior: Together, this duo posted a 12-4 record and lost a close match to Center Grove the county championship … Stephenson finished with a 20-4 mark overall and Gross had a record of 19-5.
Landen Finlinson, Center Grove junior, and Logan James, Center Grove sophomore: Teamed up late in the season after James, a transfer, became eligible … finished with 6-4 record, with losses coming to first-team All-State tandems from Bloomington South, Carmel, Homestead and Zionsville.
Honorable mention
Singles
Nick Belovic, Greenwood; Max Blandford, Edinburgh; Charlie Brooks, Greenwood; Dhrumil Patel, Center Grove; Nathan Tyler, Franklin
Doubles
Carson Contos and Ryan Wiseman, Center Grove; Jackson Klem and Luke Nelville, Franklin; Andrew Long and Mitchell Walls, Indian Creek
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