INDIANAPOLIS — Franklin Community High School senior Noah Roberts couldn’t be too upset about his state singles semifinal loss.
“I’m satisfied with it. It’s the farthest I’ve ever got,” Roberts said.
Roberts bowed out with a loss to Carmel’s Patrick Fletchall 6-1, 6-0 Saturday at Park Tudor High School. Fletchall went on to complete an unbeaten season with 6-1, 6-0 victory over Evansville’s Brandon Wu in the championship.
“The games were pretty close; a lot of them went to deuce,” Roberts said of the semifinals loss. “I just couldn’t finish out the points. But give him credit, he’s a real good player. When I was up 40-30, he’s the one that wins those points. That’s what good players do. He won’t give it to you. He just won the most important points.”
Roberts, who finished with a 25-3 record, was pleased with how his team supported him Saturday and during Friday’s quarterfinal victory against New Albany’s Logan Charbonneau.
“Noah played clean, got a little shaky trying to finish some games,” Franklin coach Rod Snyder said. “(Fletchall) came up with big shots at the right times. It’s hard to answer that. It was a pretty long match for 6-1, 6-0 — we were out there an hour and 10 minutes. He played a lot of points but came up on the short end on most of them.”
Roberts, who will play for Marian University next season, said the experience of playing in the state semifinals will help him.
“Even in college there are not many situations like this, except for top nationals,” Roberts said. “There is so much more pressure for someone at this level.”
For Roberts and the entire team, this was a memorable season. The Grizzly Cubs won their first sectional and regional in the school’s boys tennis history. Franklin lost to Park Tudor 4-1 in the semistate.
Snyder knows Roberts was a big part of that. Roberts played No. 1 singles all four seasons.
“Noah had a great four seasons for us at Franklin Community,” Snyder “He’ll be a great asset for Marian University. In my 13 years at Franklin, he’s won the most matches. It was a great run for him."
