Landon Oswald and Tyler Rich placed 3rd in Varsity Tennis Individual IHSAA State.

The HSE Boys Varsity Tennis team had two players, Tyler Rich and Landon Oswald, reach the state matches. Rich and Oswald played as a pair in doubles. The pair had a successful season with preseason stats consisting of a winning number of 14 matches out of 21. These wins pushed them toward success in the post season. Through regionals and sectionals, the pair earned winning stats of 20 victories out of 27 matches.

“During our quarterfinals match with Western,” Tyler Rich explained, “we were very focused and made little errors in our game.”

Oswald and Rich entered the first round of state on October 25. The pair brought home a victory after their match on Friday, but were met with defeat the following day. Set 1 came to a score of 6-2, with HSE’s lead. Set 2 finalized the pair’s victory with a score of 6-3.

“Me and Tyler honestly played really well in state,” Landon Oswald reflects. “We didn’t let the pressure of playing in it get to us and that’s how we were able to beat Western in the first round.”

During the second round, the Royals were beat by the Carmel Greyhounds. This secured a Royal placement of third overall for Individual Tennis State and ended the HSE Boys Tennis 2024 season.

“Against Carmel we had the game plan but couldn’t execute it up to the standard that it takes to beat the best doubles teams in the state,” Oswald states, “We just couldn’t convert on the opportunities we had.”

Oswald and Rich remain proud of their performances despite their loss. They are excited to receive the title of third place and are looking back on their season with gratitude and content.

“While they still ended up winning over us,” Tyler Rich says, “we still played hard and put in a lot of effort.”