Tipp wins fifth straight MVL title
To some, it might have just been another day of winning tennis for the Tippecanoe boys tennis team. After all, they captured the Miami Valley League tournament last Thursday and secured their fifth straight league championship.
But for Tipp coach Kaci Matthews, it is much more than “just another championship” for the Red Devils. It displayed all the hard work these kids have put in to get here.
“It’s easy to say ‘just another championship,’ but as I told the boys after the tournament, what they do in the offseason showed the payoff being the MVL championships and the winning tournaments and team success,” Matthews said. “Their hard work is what got them here. Our boys really do put a ton of time into their sport and being successful individually, which makes our team successful.”
“There is culture that drives this team, and that is what drives our offseason. We knew we had a target on our back. Everyone was wanting to see Tipp upsets, and Troy has a very solid team this year. Some felt that this could be the year that Tipp gets upset, and the boys said on the way to the tournament ‘we aren’t going to lose today’.”
Nick Von Krosigk took home the first singles title, defeating Kyle Penny of Troy 8-5 in the finals after an easy 8-1 victory over Dominic Faust of West Carrollton.
At second singles, Alex Darner defeated Max Willoughby of Piqua 8-0, then knocked off Karter Snyder of Butler 8-1 before earning a championship against Troy’s Kellan Nichols 8-3.
The third singles battle was figured to again be Tipp v Troy in the finals, and that is how it landed. Number two seed Madoc Labreck won his opening match 8-1 over Felix Sun, then he knocked off Grady Nardecchia of Butler 8-2 to advance to the finals against Michael Burns of Troy, the number one seed.
Labreck won a thriller in the finals 9-7 to claim the MVL title and help keep Tipp on track for the team title.
“Those three are extreme competitors want to win, and they are going to do it the right way,”: Matthews said.
Brecken Owen and Sadhil Mehta advanced to the finals where they lost to Troy 8-3 to finish second overall. Then at second doubles, Wesley Chesshir and Finn Gillenwater earned an 8-6 victory over Troy to secure the championship for the Red Devils.
