Published: October 09, 2008 12:57 am         

Giants too much for Berries

Marion sweeps singles spots in 3-2 win over Logansport

PERU — Logansport boys tennis coach Matt Tuggle knew Marion was a tough matchup for his squad.

The Giants’ three singles players entered the Peru Regional with a combined record of 61-5 on the season, and Marion was able to take the three singles spots to knock off the Berries 3-2 Wednesday at the Thrush Courts in Peru. Marion (18-2) advances to face 12-time defending regional champion Kokomo tonight in the regional final.

“Marion earned that, and we’ve got to give them credit for taking the win,” Tuggle said. “There wasn’t a lot we were going to do with their singles guys. They’re just deeper.”

At No. 1 singles, freshman standout Brandon Dubuque moved to 22-1 on the season with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Logan junior Evan Clem (15-7). At No. 2 singles, junior Alex Hornett improved to 21-2 with a 7-5, 6-1 win over junior Jordan McGuire (16-6). And at No. 3 singles, junior Nick Fauser also moved to 21-2 with a 6-4, 6-1 win over junior Alex Miracle.

The Berries (17-5) swept the doubles spots for their two points. At No. 1 doubles, senior Robbie Stewart and junior Andrew Rowe moved to 21-1 on the season with a 6-1, 6-0 win over senior Zac Lyons and junior Andrew Schoer. At No. 2 doubles, junior Jake McCord and sophomore Rick Brink improved to 18-1 with a 6-4, 6-4 win over junior Kolby O’Banion and freshman Advith Srikanth.

With their win at No. 1 doubles, Stewart and Rowe advance to face the Mississinewa No. 1 doubles team at the Peru individual sectional on Saturday.

The Logan-Marion regional match began on Tuesday before it was postponed to Wednesday because of rain. Marion coach Doug Porter thought his team caught a break with the postponement, as the Berries were more competitive in all three singles matches on Tuesday than they were on Wednesday.

“We had beaten them pretty handily [during the regular season], and I told our guys it’s going to be closer. Every match is going to be closer because those guys are competitors, and just look at their record. And you’re going to have to jump out, and we did not do a very good job of that on Tuesday,” he said. “So I think the rain delay gave our guys the chance to realize, yeah we’re going to have to step up and play our best or we’re going to be out of the regional.

“Our guys had a chance to regroup and knew that it was now or never, and so they stepped up and played very well.”

Each team will lose just one senior to graduation entering next season. What do the Berries need to do to get over the hump against the Giants?

“We’ve got to find a way to get a singles win at least,” Tuggle said. “They lose what we lose. They lose one of their No. 1 doubles guys just like we do. To compete against them next year, we’ve got to find a way to get a singles win and maintain doubles where we are if we can.”

Beau Wicker can be contacted at (574) 732-5113 or via e-mail at beau.wicker@pharostribune.com