AKRON - The Triton Trojans are looking to rack up wins, while the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings are looking to rack up experience.
Following the Trojans' 4-1 victory over the Vikings in boys tennis action Tuesday at Valley, Triton improved its record to 6-2 on the year and dropped Valley to 1-8 in the process."I told the guys, 'Even if they're having a weak year, don't take them lightly. Come out and still play your game,'" Triton coach Al Peckham said.
The Trojans didn't take the Vikings too lightly.
In their four match wins, Triton didn't allow Valley to win more than two games in a set, outside of a loss at No. 3 singles, where Valley's Russ Yeiter defeated Josh Shafer 6-3, 6-2.
"We cut down errors," Peckham said. "We've been doing that a lot, and we did that against Plymouth and Bethany Christian, which are two strong teams that cause a lot of errors. In order to get a little bit better, we still have to cut those out."
Outside of the loss at No. 3 singles, Triton got a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 1 doubles from Bryant Davenport and Darius Stevens, as well as a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 2 doubles from Kreig Vories and Austin Davis.
At No. 1 and 2 singles, respectively, Triton's Brandon Anthony and Ben Montalbano cruised to easy wins.
Anthony put Isaac French away 6-0, 6-1, while Montalbano didn't surrendered a game to Tyler Peterson, winning 6-0, 6-0.
"Anytime you come out playing two of the better kids in a conference, you know you're up against it," Valley coach Jack Shambaugh said of Anthony and Montalbano. "We have very little varsity experience. Our one player with experience (French), played (No.) 2 doubles last year, and that's all we have for varsity experience. So when you're up against a team like that, you're not really looking at wins and losses as much as you're looking for improvement. That's what we're trying to do."
With a 6-2 mark, the Trojans may have the inside track on a Northern State Conference title this year.
Currently undefeated in the NSC, Triton must still face New Prairie, John Glenn and last year's champ, Jimtown, which lost six of their seven players from last year. Following the regular season, the NSC crown will be decided at the conference tournament in Bremen.
"I feel like I have the top two players in the conference, with Brandon and Ben," Peckham said. "Even Ben at (No.) 2, he's still probably the second best guy in the conference. So we should have the points there, it's just finding that third one from the other guys."
As Triton eyes a conference crown, Shambaugh is optimistic that the experience gained with each match will help his squad in 2009.
"We knew early on in the season that it was going to be a struggle," he said. "We've just tried to go one match at a time. Just try to be better than we were yesterday."
TRITON 4, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 1
Singles
No. 1 - Brandon Anthony (T) def. Issac French 6-0, 6-1
