Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
AKRON - On one of the few true days of summer in northern Indiana this year, Valley rained on Jimtown's tennis parade Monday night. In a match up that usually provides an exciting 3-2 finish, the Vikings got rid of the suspense early en route to a 4-1 win.
Early on, Valley was down after No. 1 singles Keith Kindig struggled against the Jimmies' lefty Jeran Veot 6-2, 6-2.
Valley was able to pull it together despite not playing their best tennis.
The Vikings seemed to struggle at times after spending all day Saturday at the Lewis Cass Invite.
While Valley finished second in the Invite, three matches in one day can take their toll and it showed at times Monday.
For Valley coach Jack Shambaugh, the fact that his team was able to battle was as important as the result.
"I thought mentally we weren't real sharp early on. I thought we won the bigger points and made shots when we needed to make them. So I feel like we got mentally tough towards the end of the match."
Robby Hamman, Valley's No. 2 singles, struggled in the first set against freshman Mike Landis before finally winning 7-5 then cruised in the second set 6-1.
Hamman, who had trouble getting his first serve over and leaving return shots too high, settled down and was able to cruise in the second and final set.
Valley clinched the win when James Makula finally finished off Jimtown's Wayne Sovey after three sets 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
While Makula lost in the first set, he seemed to be in control of the entire match, frustrating Sovey by making Jimtown's No. 3 use the entire court. Sovey was noticeably fatigued and frustrated by the final set.
The last match of the night was the No. 1 doubles team of Trent Newsome and Aaron Foster. Foster and Newsome took on Aaron Hoffman and Chris Landis. Newsome and Foster split the opening sets 6-3, 1-6 before escaping 6-4 in the third and final set.
With everyone else off the courts, court four at the Valley tennis court became center court. The tandem of Foster and Newsome looked on their way to an easy third set win, but Hoffman and Landis made things interesting. Foster and Newsome were finally able to pull away before they were forced to a tiebreaker.
Valley, now 4-2, is in action Wednesday when the Vikings travel to John Glenn. The match begins at 4:30 p.m.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 4, JIMTOWN 1
Singles
No. 1 - Jeran Veot (J) def. Keith Kindig 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 - Robby Hamman (TV) def. Mike Landis 7-5, 6-1
No. 3 - James Makula (TV) def. Wayne Sovey 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 - Trent Newsome/Aaron Foster (TV) def. Aaron Hoffman/Chris Landis 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
No. 2 - Lincoln Rose/Rosten Hamman (TV) def. Duke Johnson/Nate Lint 6-0, 7-6 (8-6)
JV - VALLEY 4, JIMTOWN 0
Singles
No. 1 - Brady Kisel (TV) def. Kris Martin 8-7 (7-5)
No. 2 - Adam Martin (TV) def. Kevin Pigors 8-6
No. 3 - Derrick Rose (TV) def. Collin Boyle 8-3
Doubles
No. 1 - Josh Foster/James Bradford def. Colin May/Gary Bope 8-0
