Center Grove’s Jack Dybwad follows through on an overhead return during Saturday’s semistate match against Fishers.
Zayne Spangler | For the Daily Journal
Center Grove experienced the harsh, canyon-wide disparity between participating and spectating last season.
On Saturday, the fourth-ranked Trojans shooed aside any possibility of repeating the latter by winning a semistate on their own courts with a 4-1 victory over No. 21 Fishers.
Next for coach David Beasley’s senior-laden squad is a Friday drive to North Central, where it faces No. 16 Penn in a 10 a.m. quarterfinal.
The Kingsmen took care of business on Saturday by downing host Homestead, 3-2. The winner takes part in Saturday’s state semifinals, also at North Central.
Simply returning to Indianapolis’ northside promises to bring back memories of two years ago.
“We lost against North Central when this group of seniors were sophomores. Our goal is to get back there and win that match,” Beasley said. “They played well today. They came out with some really good energy. Not disappointed with the play at all.”
Three of the team’s starters from that 3-2 semifinal heartbreaker against eventual state champ North Central were in Beasley’s lineup on Saturday — seniors Tyler Lane, Daksh Patel and Carson Bush.
The objective now is to extend their prep tennis careers by three more matches.
Against Fishers, all four CG points came from straight-set wins, starting at No, 1 singles where Lane produced a 6-0, 6-0 dominance of the Tigers’ Aiden Foley.
Lane admits there is a certain amount of postseason pressure, though it’s nothing Trojan players haven’t been through before.
“Most of my team is seniors. There’s definitely more pressure because it could be our last match,” Lane said. “But I think (Beasley) has helped us a lot mentally, and we’re all playing like we practice. Just going out and having fun because that’s what’s most important, and not letting the pressure beat you.”
The Trojans’ Quinn Smith defeated Dylan Campbell, 6-2, 6-2, at the third singles spot. Center Grove’s top doubles tandem of Bush and Patel won their match by the very same score over the Fishers’ duo of Eshan Jain and Vaughn Curtis.
Center Grove’s No. 2 doubles of Russell Dean and Jack Dybwad won 6-4, 6-3, against Jackson Hunley and Beau Wolf.
“It definitely is a lot of pressure in the postseason, but through our regular-season matches we play a lot of really good teams,” Dean said. “That schedule helps prepare us. We played well today. We made a lot of serves, and just made volleys. That was the key. I’m good at serves and hitting volleys, and Jack’s good at groundstrokes and returns.”
The Tigers sidestepped a shutout by virtue of the day’s longest match, a two-hour marathon that saw Gavin Conrad rally for a 6-7 (7-2), 6-1, 10-8 decision over the Trojans’ Yuvraj Dasari.
“The big message to them throughout the whole year is you come out every match with high intensity and high energy,” Beasley said. “We try to keep that level throughout practice as well.
“Nothing changes. It doesn’t matter about the jersey they’re wearing. We’re playing the tennis ball, we’re not playing them. Hopefully, that keeps them more regulated when we’re playing these big matches.”
This time of year, they’re only getting bigger.
