Boys tennis state finals begin Friday

Thursday, October 17, 2013

INDIANAPOLIS -- Six of the top nine teams ranked in the most recent state coaches poll lead this year's field of eight teams in the 47th Annual IHSAA Boys Tennis State Finals.

Four quarterfinal matches will be played Friday at 3 p.m. at Carmel and Fishers high schools with the winners returning on Saturday at 10 a.m. at North Central High School for a pair of semifinals and the championship match at 2 p.m.

The top half of the bracket at Carmel calls for top-ranked and three-time defending champion Carmel (22-1) to play No. 8 Delta (24-1) and No. 2 North Central of Indianapolis (23-1) meeting No. 15 Northeastern (19-1).

Making their fourth straight visit to the state finals, the Greyhounds boast a pair of undefeated sophomore units in No. 3 singles player Michael Li (23-0) and the No. 2 doubles team of Zach Hennessey and Azad Koya (21-0).

Delta has won 19 straight matches since its only setback of the year on Sept. 7. The eighth-ranked Eagles will be making their second appearance in four seasons.

North Central is making its state-leading 24th appearance at this level of the tournament and third straight. The Panthers' No. 1 doubles team of senior William Reifeis and junior Patrick McAuley are 22-0 this season. In contrast in both experience and enrollment, Northeastern is the smallest public school (423 students) to advance to the state finals in tournament history. It's also the first Knights team in school history to play in the state finals in any sport. The team's only loss of the year was a 4-1 decision to Delta on Sept. 18.

In the other half of the bracket, No. 3 Park Tudor (18-4) will take on No. 9 Jasper (18-3) for the second year in a row in the quarterfinals and No. 6 Evansville Memorial (18-0) meets No. 19 Penn (21-3).

Park Tudor defeated Jasper 4-1 in last year's quarterfinal round and, again, are led by No. 1 singles player Danny Rayl, who remains undefeated at 25-0 after finishing as the state runner-up in last year's singles tournament. He and the Panthers will make their fourth visit in five seasons to the state finals. Three of their four losses this season have come at the hands of local rivals Carmel and North Central.

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