Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
BOURBON - Both times Tippecanoe Valley's varsity tennis team has played at Triton it has won the match by a score of 4-1.
Earlier in the year the Vikings defeated Triton by that score in a regular season match. Saturday they won the Triton Tournament over Triton, Knox and Whitko by the same score.
"Going in we thought we had a real good chance," said Valley coach Rod Hamman. "We had already played and beat Triton 4-1 and Knox 4-1 so we thought we had a good chance. We had expectations but I didn't emphasize winning but playing a good game of tennis, and they did that."
Hamman is right, the Vikings did play good tennis. Of the tournament's five championship matches the Vikings won four and were runnerup in the other. With 10 points awarded for a win, seven for second place, four for third place and one point for fourth place, Valley tallied 47 points. Knox scored 32 for a second place team finish and Triton and Whitko finished with 20 and 11 points respectively.
In the first Valley/Triton confrontation of the year, the lone win for the Trojans came at the No. 1 singles position where Art Blackmer defeated Drew Shafer. Saturday in the opening round they squared off again. Only this time, Shafer came away victorious, 6-0, 7-6 (7-4).
"For Drew this was a tremendous win," said Hamman, "he's gotten more mentally tough as the year has gone on. He's playing mentally smart tennis. It was a fun match to watch. Art is a tremendous player. Both guys are excellent players."
Blackmer went on to defeat Whitko's Nathan Haywood 6-0, 6-0 in the consolation match.
Valley also won matches at No. 3 singles where Luke Shambaugh topped Triton's Bryan Wilcox 7-6, 2-6, 6-3; at No. 1 doubles where Brian Love and Andy Martin edged Knox's Nick Bourff and Steve Stark 6-3, 6-4 and at No. 2 doubles where Kyle Robinson and Phil Jackson topped Triton's Matt Yankovich and Matt Craft 6-1, 6-4.
The only win the Vikings didn't pick up was the No. 2 singles match where Knox's Jeff Fosler topped Jeremy Shambaugh 6-3, 6-1.
After losing all of its first round matches, Whitko picked up two wins in the consolation round. At No. 2 singles Jarrod Jagger upended Triton's Seth Bowers 3-6, 6-0, 6-2. In No. 1 doubles action Shawn Dorgan and Greg Neher topped Triton's Curt Mosier and Kent Roberts 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (7-4), 6-3.
Whitko will host West Noble tonight at 4:30 p.m. Valley will host Whitko Tuesday and travel to Manchester Thursday.
"I know Whitko is a little down this year," said Hamman. "We can't take them lightly. Drew hasn't played their No. 1 singles player yet. This is a team we can't look past. We have to continue to build on what we've done. It's going to take some good solid tennis to beat Manchester. They're the best in the conference right now."
TRITON TENNIS TOURNAMENT
Team results - 1. Tippecanoe Valley 47, 2. Knox 32, 3. Triton 20, 4. Whitko 11
Championship Matches
Singles
No. 1 - Drew Shafer (TV) def. Corey Clemens (K) 6-0, 7-6 (7-4)
No. 2 - Jeff Fosler (K) def. Jeremy Shambaugh (TV) 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 - Luke Shambaugh (TV) def. Bryan Wilcox (T) 7-6, 2-6, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 -ÊBrian Love & Andy Martin (TV) def. Nick Bourff & Steve Stark 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 - Kyle Robinson & Phil Jackson (TV) def. Matt Yankovich & Matt Craft 6-1, 6-4
Consolation Matches
Singles
No. 1 - Art Blackmer (T) def. Nathan Haywood (W) 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 - Seth Bowers (T) def. Jarrod Jagger (W) 3-6, 6-0, 6-2
No. 3 - Howard (K) def. Darren Lafever (W) 6-0, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 - Shawn Dorgan & Greg Neher (W) def. Curt Mosier & Kent Roberts 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (7-4), 6-3
No. 2 - Prentis Minix & Blaine Craft (K) def. Blake Hike & Kory Mettler 6-2, 7-5
