FORTVILLE — One of the best seasons in the history of Greenfield-Central boys tennis came to an end Wednesday.
Greenfield-Central, in the Mt. Vernon Regional championship match, lost 5-0 to Fishers, ranked No. 14 in the Indiana High School Tennis Coaches Association poll.
The Cougars, ranked No. 30 in the IHSTECA poll, finish 20-4 and tied for the most wins by a G-C boys tennis team.
The 2007 team, the last club to win a sectional title until last week, also had 20 wins, but did not reach a regional championship match.
Greenfield-Central beat New Castle Tuesday to earn a spot in the title match against Fishers.
“I can’t explain how proud I am of these guys,” Greenfield-Central head coach Michael Turpin, in his ninth year as head coach, said. “They have fought all season long. There have been a couple of matches where they have had to grind out some points.
“They have just been relentless, non-stop workers. Since the season began these guys put in more and more effort every single day. It’s exactly what you’d want from a group of guys.”
Against Fishers, the Cougars dropped each match in straight sets.
The most competitive contests were the doubles matches.
At No. 1 doubles, Luke Sitzman and C.J. Michalek lost 6-3, 6-2 to Jake Butler and Thomas Bender.
At No. 2 doubles, Nathan Roberts and Mateo Molanphy were defeated 6-4, 6-2 by Vaughn Curtis and Johnathan Mills.
Roberts and Molanphy trailed 3-0 early in the first set and battled back to 5-4 before falling.
The first completed match of the day was at No. 2 singles. Caden Robertson, one of three seniors in the lineup along with C.J. Michalek and No. 1 singles player Chris Long, lost to Gavin Conrad 6-2, 6-2.
Long lost 6-1, 6-2 to Aidan Foley. The deciding point to give the Tigers the win came at No. 3 singles.
G-C sophomore Alex Michalek was defeated 6-2, 6-2 by Cooper Vallance.
“To go 20-4 on the season, for me, (it is) the best team I have ever had. As far as Greenfield-Central history, I don’t believe we’ve had a team make it to a regional final. I know it’s never fun to lose but at the same time they’ve had a great season and they need to remember that too,” Turpin said.
“We could have played better,” the coach added. (It was) not our best match, but at the same time, Fishers is a solid team. They showed why they were ranked where they were ranked and that they earned their way to get to this spot. They put pressure on us early. From my perspective, I thought our guys played great and did what they could do.”
Both Long and C.J. Michalek end their high school careers with over 40 career wins, most of Long’s came in singles. C.J. Michalek had a combination of singles and doubles victories.
The Sitzman-Michalek doubles team finished the year 20-4.
Both doubles teams came in to the Fishers match 3-0 in postseason play with victories over New Palestine, Mt. Vernon and New Castle.
Long finished his season with a 19-5 record.
“It’s going to be hard to replace (our three seniors),” Turpin said. “Chris, CJ, Caden, their leadership and work ethic have been phenomenal. They’ve set the tone every single day for practice and show other guys how to do things the right way.
“I thought we could have kept it a little closer (against Fishers), but I am extremely proud of what these guys accomplished this year.”
