Center Grove boys tennis coach Ivan Smith is taking his team to the state finals for the 13th time. This one is particularly satisfying because of the obstacles.
“Each one of those times has been different, but we’ve just had adversity all year,” Smith said. “We had to quarantine at the end of the summer right before practice started. Then we lost kids to COVID. We’ve had a lot of adversity, but I think it’s kind of galvanized us.”
The seventh-ranked Trojans played without three starters en route to sectional and regional titles. Two of those starters returned Saturday as Center Grove slipped past No. 25 Terre Haute South 3-2 in the Center Grove Semistate.
Center Grove (18-5) will now host No. 5 Munster in a state quarterfinal at noon Friday.
One of the two returning starters, Landen Finlinson, got one of the three Trojan points at No. 1 doubles with Carson Contos, winning 6-2, 6-0 over Cameron Faro and Jonathon Stadler.
“We felt it would be a 3-2 match, (but) we didn’t know what to expect with Landen being out so long,” Smith said. “He played as well as he’s ever played. He was solid and really didn’t try to force the issue. He made Carson a little steadier than he usually was.”
Contos and Finlinson, both seniors, only found out Friday they would get to practice together that day before the semistate.
“It was definitely hard not to play with him for that long and have to play a match with that quick a turnaround, but it felt good,” Contos said. “It felt like a glove coming back to him. We came out with a lot of energy and got the job done, and the rest of our team followed suit.”
Finlinson said he had been hitting every single day when he was sidelined.
“Coach got me ready at practice (Friday) and I just tuned up my skills and I was ready,” he said.
Finlinson added it helps that he and Contos are longtime friends.
“Being friends always helps our chemistry whenever we play together,” Finlinson said. “It was like we never even left today.”
With the score tied at 2-all, Center Grove’s No. 2 doubles team of senior Glenn Swaney and junior Bennett Strain finished off Stephen Kallubhavi and Walker Forsythe 7-5, 6-4.
Swaney and Strain fell behind in each set, only to rally.
“Being able to overcome those slumps gave us a lot more energy,” Swaney said.
Leading 5-3, Swaney and Strain had a chance to close it out on their serve but got broken.
“We were a little disappointed we didn’t win it right there,” Swaney said. “But we just had to stay aggressive, stick to the game plan and it worked out for us.”
Swaney said they were giving each other pep talks between every point down the stretch.
“We pretty much did everything right but we just missed some shots and they hit some good shots,” Strain said. “We kept our composure.”
After the Braves closed to 5-4 in the second set, the Trojan duo won four straight points to ignite the celebration.
“Toward the end, we started to feel the crowd’s energy, and so that definitely helped,” Strain said. “Staying relaxed when you have that energy around you is the key to make big shots, finish games and ultimately win the match.”
Senior Luke Embrey got Center Grove’s only other point, dropping just one game in a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Matthew Roberts at No. 2 singles.
Trojans senior Dhrumil Patel, who had been sidelined for the first two rounds in the postseason, returned at No. 1 singles and lost to Canaan Sellers 6-1, 6-0. Center Grove freshman Max Williams, who had been playing No. 1 singles in Patel’s absence, lost to Caleb Morris 6-0, 6-2 at No. 3.
