Mt. Vernon’s Max Orelup and Bryndan Wylie won the decisive match to give the Marauders back-to-back Hoosier Heritage Conference titles.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
FORTVILLE — After a 30-year wait for their first Hoosier Heritage Conference boys tennis title, Mt. Vernon is now celebrating back-to-back championships.
A year ago in Muncie, Mt. Vernon defeated Delta to claim the program’s first-ever championship. Against the Eagles Monday at Mt. Vernon High School, the Marauders made it two in a row.
With a win last week over previously-unbeaten New Palestine and Monday’s triumph over Delta, Mt. Vernon completed its HHC season with a perfect 7-0 mark.
New Palestine was runner-up at 6-1 and Delta finished 5-2.
Mt. Vernon won Monday’s match 4-1.
After No. 1 singles sub Carter Harrington lost 6-1, 6-2 to Delta’s Kody Vest, the Marauders won the remaining four matches.
Singles players Gavin Weaver, a 6-3, 6-2 victor over Owen Kupp at No. 2 singles, and Tate Cougill, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Luke Atkinson at No. 3, gave Mt. Vernon a 2-1 lead.
The decisive match came at No. 1 doubles. Bryndan Wylie and Max Orelup defeated Ben Miller and Brady Williams 7-5, 6-4 to secure the third win and claim the league championship for the second straight year.
The clincher at No. 1 doubles was one of the tightest matches of the night.
There were three consecutive breaks of serve before, on Wylie’s serve, the Marauders were able to close out the opening set. Mt. Vernon trailed 4-3 in the second set before winning the final three games, wrapping up the final game on Orelup’s serve.
“There’s a reset button,” Wylie said. “I have a reset button every time. If you make a mistake, don’t even think about it, you’ve got to move on, move past it.”
“It was definitely a big win for us,” Orelup added. “We played well.”
In the last match of the night, a three-setter, Mt. Vernon’s No. 2 team of Ethan Erdos and Eli Muterspaugh defeated Ty Dishman and Aaron Elliott 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.
“Having [the big matches] at the end of the season makes it a lot more fun,” Mt. Vernon coach Graham McMullen said. “It gave us some time to adjust our team, our lineup, our play in general. The big thing, we’ve talked about this the last three weeks, it’s a team win.
“We’ve had different doubles lineups, different singles guys in and out all the time. Last year we had [a dominant No. 1 in Adam Koon] and almost a point every night he was playing. One of the biggest things we talk about is 20 percent. Every single one of you is 20 percent out here. One person can’t win it for everyone. It’s a team win night-in and night-out.”
Next up is the Mt. Vernon Sectional. The Marauders drew Eastern Hancock in a semifinal match today at 4:30 p.m.
