Eagles top Tigers in county match-up

Sep. 15—LEBANON — The Zionsville tennis team didn't have much problem in dispatching Lebanon 5-0 on Tuesday evening.

But the part of the match that was most pleasing to head coach Earl Allen, was the business-like approach his team had on the courts against the Tigers.

"We had strong mental focus and in matches like this, you can't let your mind waver," Allen said. "We got the job done and I was proud of the way they handled themselves as athletes and sportsmen."

The Eagles are ranked eighth in the state and are one of the best teams on the Tigers' schedule.

Lebanon head coach Joe LePage said it wasn't as much about the win or loss for the Tigers on Tuesday night, it was whether or not they could get something out of the match.

"We wanted to find small victories," LePage said. "Before the match, we knew that a lot of the matches would not go our way, but it was important to find the positives. We wanted to find positives that we could use in future matches."

The Eagles rested No. 1 singles player Cole Chappell on Tuesday, bumping up their other two singles players.

At No. 1 singles, Sebastian Lisiak topped John Gascho 6-2, 6-2. At No. 2 singles, Peyton Guider won 6-0, 6-0 over Matthew Barber and at No. 3 singles, freshmen Cole Herrmann topped Owen Bigler 6-0, 6-0.

"They all work hard and deserve opportunities to play in those spots," Allen said. "We pick some matches throughout the year that we can mix things up a little bit. They went out there and did their jobs."

At No. 1 doubles, the Zionsville team of Ryan Betz and Will Cramer topped Jackson Shepherd and Jack Ferrell 6-2, 6-0.

At No. 2 doubles, the Eagle tandem of Jonah Everson and Emerson Holifield topped David Garcia and Matthias Baldwin 6-1, 6-0.

"John did a great job of showing heart throughout," LePage said. "We wanted him to work on his depth and ground strokes, and be aggressive and he did that. Our 1 doubles looked good early and I was impressed with Owen Bigler. He is probably out of position playing three singles for us, but he played well. I thought we had moments of solid play everywhere."

The win improved the Eagles to 8-4 on the season.

The Eagles have the conference tournament this weekend, then three more matches before the sectional.

Allen said that overall he thinks the Eagles are in good shape for the post-season.

Heading into the conference tournament, Allen said the Eagles are focused on getting off to a good start on Thursday, and then moving on from there.

"We are in a really good place at the moment and heading in the right direction," Allen said. "We want to peak at the right time and we are almost at that point heading into the post-season. We want to start strong Thursday and play our games. If we can put forth the effort we have been the past several matches, we will be in good shape."

Lebanon has a key conference match with Danville on Thursday.

After that, they have four more matches until the sectional.

"We can't take tonight into Thursday," LePage said. "Zionsville is a great team with some really strong players. We have to leave tonight's match here, and come into practice tomorrow and start focusing on Thursday."

Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.