Boys Tennis place 2nd at the Hoosier Crossroads Conference championship at Fishers High School on September 19th and the 21st.
On Thursday September 19th, 2024 the HSE Boys Tennis team traveled to Fishers High School to compete in the annual HCC Championship. Last year, the Royals didn’t play to their expectations with now senior Alex Piercy being injured, and current senior and number one doubles Tyler Rich having to play number one. They placed 5th last year and now with multiple excellent conference wins such as Avon, Fishers, and Westfield. Going into the conference championships the Royals had their traditional lineup. Alex Piercy played number one singles, Sophomore Brady Stump played number two singles, Senior Leo McVeigh played three singles, Junior Landon Osswald and Senior Tyler Rich played number one doubles, and finally Junior Ian Ransom and freshman Logan Foust played two doubles.
Going into the HCC Championships, the Royals are expected to win all of their first round matches. They started off strong with Alex Piercy beating senior Ethan Feliciano from Noblesville with ease. Following that, Brady Stump played number two singles from Brownsburg. Stump fought hard in the first set winning in tiebreak then sweeping him in the second. Leo McVeigh then played number three singles from Westfield, and as he did in regular season, he dominated his match. One doubles played Avon and forced a third set but lost after 4 match points they then went into the back draw. two doubles played Avon in which they cruised easily in.
The start of day two September 21st, all of the singles players were playing number 2 ranked Zionsville, and all of the doubles teams were playing number 18 ranked Westfield. Alex Piercy played senior Jose De Andrade and fought hard but lost. Brady Stump played his rival senior Carson FU. Last time he played FU, he had a 3 hour match lasting till near midnight.
“I played a very tight first set and lost 5-7” said Stump when asked about his first matchup against Carson FU, “It was a very close match and in the end of 3 hours I came out on top.”
Stump went undefeated in conference matchups with 7 wins and was ready for his rematch against FU. The first set was a nail biter and went to a tie break with FU securing the first set. Stump then turned it up into the second set sweeping FU 6-0 to force it into a third set tiebreaker. The tiebreaker was going back and forth, but at the end Carson FU came out on top in the tiebreak winning 11-9.
“I mean I wasn’t happy, but I wasn’t mad” said Stump after the heartbreaking loss, “He’s a really good player but I also know that I can beat him because I have before”
Leo McVeigh was playing freshman Samuel Robinson from Zionsville, who he hasn’t played before since Zionsville moved their lineup around for the championships. During the regular season McVeigh played freshman Monroe Holifield who he lost to. McVeigh had high hopes of winning this match which aided him in his quick victory against Robinson. Moving onto the doubles, the Royals one doubles played by seniors Jay Hostetter and Parker Gibbs from Westfield. Both sets were very tight but the Royals were able to pull it off in straight sets. The number two doubles played by Ian Ransom and Logan Foust had a rematch of an opponent they lost to in regular season. They played seniors Jack Brennan and Jake Juntgen from Westfield. Ransom and Foust were determined to win after their previous loss. They went into the first set winning with ease, but Westfield crawled back in winning the second set. The Royals were able to put it away after an overhead from Ransom to win the match.
It was the final matches for the Royals and they were hoping for a top 3 placement as a team. Alex Piercy had to play senior Gavin Conrad from Fishers. Conrad doesn’t usually play number one singles but he had to for today due to senior Aidan Foley being out from an injury. Piercy wanted this win more than anything, this win was for an all-conference honors for singles. Piercy fought long and hard but in the end, Conrad came on top in the third set. Moving onto number two singles Brady Stump had to play freshman Lucas Stoecker who he has beat many times in the past. Stump started off down 1-4 to Stoecker but after some words from Head Coach Gernert won the first set 6-4 and won the match quickly securing third place in his draw. Leo McVeigh was playing in the championship for three singles and was playing against Avon who he lost to in regular season. McVeigh wanted to prove everyone wrong today and would do anything it took. McVeigh fought his hardest and ended up winning and let out a burst of energy.
“I felt proud of winning for my team and others” stated McVeigh when asked about his great success, “It was kind when everyone congratulated me on winning.”
McVeigh won his draw and brought a first place finish for the Royals. One doubles played a very improved Brownsburg team in the back draw. They lost the first set, but they were able to pull it back and win the second set and then win the third set tiebreak. Tyler Rich and Landon Osswald took 5th for the one doubles draw. The Royals number two doubles are playing in the final for their draw and have to play Fishers. The other Royals were hyping up Logan Foust and Ian Ransom before the match. This as both their first times playing in the HCC Championships and were already in the finals. The first set started off slow with each team holding serve to bring it to 5-5. The Royals then won the first set 7-5 with the amazing lob skills of Ian Ransom. The second set was as close as the first but Logan Foust was beating the Tigers, they won the second set and in result they won the finals.
“They came at us with an usual play-style” said Foust when asked about his HCC championship victory, “we were able to overcome it and strategically win the match to take the championship”
The Royals took second overall in the tournament behind Zionsville who had Jose De Andrade being named all-conference with his win over Westfield. Next the Royals have their last match of the regular season against Cathedral on Wednesday, September 25th, make sure to go out and support them on their quest to state.
