Tennis notebook: Experienced Kingsmen looking good early on
The Penn High School boys tennis team, by its lofty standards, took its fair share of lumps a season ago.
Now, a veteran Kingsmen group looks prepared to be the ones handing out the lumps to opponents this fall.
Penn, which finished 13-7 in 2021, has dominated its way to a 5-0 start. The Kingsmen have blanked Warsaw, Crown Point, Marion and Elkhart all 5-0 and topped Northridge 4-1.
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"We feel good now, but we have to keep things in perspective," said longtime Penn coach Eric Bowers. "We had a young team last year and we're looking for a little revenge this season. I'm excited to see where we stack up against some of the top teams on our schedule."
The Kingsmen ended the 2021 season with a 5-0 loss to Northern Indiana Conference rival Saint Joseph in the LaPorte Regional title match. Bowers welcomed back a strong group from that team that won the program's 27th overall sectional championship last fall. It was the 20th straight sectional crown for the Kingsmen.
"I knew we had a good team with our top five guys back from last year," Bowers stated. "I have a great group of guys. It's a complete team effort up and down our lineup. And that's what we need to accomplish our goals this season."
Penn returned a very talented and experienced group from last season. Sophomore Chris Chen went 13-13 at No.1 singles in 2021, while senior David Bao was 14-11 at No. 2 and sophomore Evan Knapp 16-9 at No. 3. The now senior tandem of Eli Deitchley and Jeffrey Bao were 13-13 at No. 1 doubles a season ago.
The Kingsmen have also added a key piece in Petter Klasson, an exchange student from Sweden. Klasson played No. 2 singles in Penn's NIC opening win over Elkhart Tuesday night.
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"Petter is pushing for No. 1 and that just makes our whole team better," Bowers remarked. "He's quickly adapted and we enjoy having him on the team. He's very consistent and played a lot of tennis at a young age."
Chen was at the top of the Kingsmen lineup Tuesday versus Elkhart with Klasson at No. 2 and David Bao at No. 3. The pair of Deitchley and Jeffrey Bao were at No. 1 doubles with Knapp and Quinn Lippert at the No. 2 doubles spot.
"The thing about this team is that we are very competitive at all five positions," Bowers said. "Our singles are as strong as they have been in years. Then, we have our No. 1 doubles team back from last year and we also have a strong No. 2 doubles team.
"It's just fun as a coach to watch all five courts be competitive like we are."
Bowers is looking forward to the coming weekend. The Kingsmen, who are ranked No. 11 in the coaches poll, are scheduled to face No. 17 Munster, No. 14 West Lafayette and No. 19 Culver Academy at Culver Academy on Saturday.
"I'm going to know a lot more about us after Saturday," said Bowers. "I think we are ready for it."
Penn will face rival Saint Joseph on Sept. 6 at Leeper Park. The NIC Tournament is slated for Sept. 12-14 at Leeper Park in South Bend.
"Our goals are the same as they are every year," Bowers said. "We want to win the NIC, which we have not done now for a while, and then the sectional and go from there."
Penn will host its own sectional in late September. Parings for the state tournament series, including area sectionals, will be drawn by the IHSAA on September 26 at 7 p.m. Sectional play then begins the following day.
Goshen collects big win
The Goshen RedHawks picked up an impressive win Friday night.
Coach Daniel Love's squad, which was No. 30 in the first coaches poll of the season, topped No. 22 Saint Joseph 4-1 in Goshen.
The RedHawks got singles wins from Pi Wellington at No. 1 and Isaac Stahly at No. 3 single. Wellington was honorable mention All-State as a junior last season. Goshen also got wins from both of its doubles teams, comprised of Joel Byler, Myles McLaughlin, Tyler Scott and Kyan Miller.
Goshen, which lost in the regional final in 2021, improved to 5-0 with the win.
Saint Joseph, which lost in the semistate a year ago, is 5-1. Coach Steve Bender's squad went 18-2 and won its fourth straight NIC title in 2021. The Indians graduated stars Daniel Pries and Kyle Fernandez at the top of their singles lineup. The pair combined for a four-year record of 200-14 with Pries competing in the No. 1 singles state finals three times.
Saint Joseph opened its NIC dual meet season by downing Bremen 4-1 last week. Bremen was 18-2 a year ago, finished second to St. Joe in the NIC tournament and won the program's first-ever regional title.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: IHSAA Tennis: Penn High School boys team starts strong
