When Mt. Vernon’s Bryndan Wylie and Max Orelup put the finishes touches on a victory in the No. 2 doubles contest of Monday’s Hoosier Heritage Conference boys tennis match at Delta, the Marauders achieved two unprecedented events in one.
The Wylie-Orelup win was the decisive third victory in Mt. Vernon’s 4-1 triumph over Delta, a first in school history over the Eagles.
It also gave Mt. Vernon its first-ever HHC boys tennis title, completing the conference dual season with a perfect 7-0 record.
The HHC was established in 1993. The Marauders have had their share of sectional title teams during that stretch, but the league has been dominated by Delta.
The Eagles had won the last five conference titles and 23 of the 30 contested. They won 10 in a row from 1998-2007.
“It means a ton” Mt. Vernon coach Graham McMullen said of winning the conference championship. “Hats off to (Delta coach Tim Cleland) and kudos to them for the program he’s built and program he’s built.”
Mt. Vernon got off to a good start where they have often got off to a good start – at No. 1 singles.
Senior all-stater Adam Koon won quickly over Simon Marlow 6-0, 6-0. The Eagles evened things up shortly at No. 1 doubles when Dalton Royal and Preston Shanayda defeated Mt. Vernon’s Robbie Moore and Matthew Jones 6-1, 6-0.
Another quick win came for the Marauders at No. 2 singles. Manny Downs won 6-0, 6-1 over Kody Vest.
“We knew it was going to come down to probably the depth of the lineup, No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles,” McMullen said.
In both sets, Wylie/Orelup had early breaks of serve against opponents Aaron Elliott and Tyce Dishman. Getting out to 3-1 leads helped them come away with a 6-3, 6-3 victory.
“We’ve got to stay high (energy) and keep our confidence up,” Wylie said of keys to the doubles victory. “It’s always that way for us. We cheer each other on. We played really well in the middle of the sets.
“I’m so happy, we made history.”
After clinching the dual meet and conference title, Tate Cougill wrapped up the evening with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Jake Bilby.
Cougill got out to a 5-2 first-set lead, but after Bilby broke serve, Cougill regained command by winning seven of the final eight games.
“This means a lot and shows what we went through this summer,” Koon said of winning a conference championship. “It came down to what we did in the summer, the speed days, coach Graham throwing medicine balls at us, we’re sprinting, sweating… We became close as a team. I don’t think you can win this if you’re not close as a team.”
Mt. Vernon now moves on to preparing for this week’s sectional tournament.
The Marauders are ranked No. 22 in the Indiana High School Tennis Coaches Association poll, highest in school history. They’ll host Eastern Hancock in a semifinal sectional match Wednesday, looking to defend their sectional title from 2022.
