Sep. 26—The Lebanon and Western Boone tennis teams honored their seniors on Wednesday with a pair of victories.
At Lebanon, the Tigers topped Hamilton Heights 5-0.
“It was a fun night for us,” Lebanon head coach Sam Godby said. “We were able to mess with our line-up a little bit and play all of our seniors and play some guys in different spots. It was a fun night and really the big thing was they performed well and got the win.”
No. 1 singles player Owen Bigler, No. 1 doubles player Jack Ferrell and No. 2 doubles player Parker Lawson were the only players that were in their ‘normal positions.’
The rest was pieced together and despite the different spots, the effort was exactly what Godby wanted to see.
“We all still have the same goal, no matter what spot we are playing,” Godby said. “We want to be playing our best tennis heading into the sectional next week and this was a good step forward.”
One of the highlights of the night was at No. 3 singles with senior Simon Gardner.
Playing his first varsity match of the year, he won 6-3, 6-3.
“Simon has come to practice every day the last three years and given his best effort,” Godby said. “Everything I needed him to do, he was ready to do it — same with his teammates. It was great to give him this opportunity and for him to get a great win.”
At No. 1 singles, Bigler won 6-2, 6-4 and at No. 2 singles, Ian Kincade won 3-6, 6-2, 12-10.
At No. 1 doubles, Jack Ferrell and Wesley Byrd won 6-0, 6-0 and at No. 2 doubles, Parker Lawson and Thomas Devlin won 6-1, 6-0.
Godby said the senior class of Bigler, Byrd, Devlin, Ferrell, Gardner and Lawson was a special group.
“This senior class has meant everything to me,” Godby said. “For a lot of them I coached them in middle school for three years and this is my third year with them at the varsity level. I have seen them grow up and develop as players and people. They have meant a lot to the program and to me.”
The Tigers host Southmont Thursday before getting ready for sectional play.
“There is always things we can clean up,” Godby said. “We want to be a little more consistent, ease into the points and stay sharp.”
Western Boone
The Stars came away with a 3-2 win over conference foe North Montgomery on Wednesday on their senior night.
At No. 1 singles, Gavin Hawkins topped Beckett Martin 6-0, 6-0.
At No. 2 singles, Jon Rutherford topped Cade Cole 6-1, 6-1 and at No. 3 singles, Jacob Collins fell to Dane Elliott.
At No. 1 doubles, Owen Oakley and Easton Nance defeated Austin Biddle and Carter Thompson 6-1, 6-1 and at No. 2 doubles, Eli Mitchell and Burke Cavins lost to Keaton Brown and Cayden Keller 6-3, 7-6.
Before the match, the Stars honored their four seniors — Hawkins, Mitchell, Ethan Barnett and Gannon Wilson.
“I want to give special thanks to our four seniors who have put countless hours in and out of season to help our program,” Western Boone head coach Dustin Cunningham said. “We are going to miss the commitment and leadership of Eli, Ethan, Gannon and Gavin.”
Western Boone hosts University on Thursday.
Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.
