It’s been a good week for Panther men’s tennis.
Upon returning from Spring Break, Franklin faced two Mountain Seven Conference foes in East Henderson and North Henderson. In wins over both, Sammy Gunter’s team improved their conference record to 8-1, good for second in the standings behind 10-0 West Henderson.
On Tuesday, April 11, the Panthers traveled to East Flat Rock for a rematch of their 6-0 win over East March 29. There, they took care of business once again, winning all six singles and all three doubles matches in blowouts. Five of six Panthers won 10-0 in singles, while two of three doubles pairs won 8-0.
“Our guys were just too much for the young, struggling East squad,” said Gunter.
After routing an overmatched Eagle team, the next day the team traveled back to Henderson County for a rematch of their 8-1 win over North March 1. There, the Knights improved quite a bit on their earlier result.
“Missing [No. 4 singles player Orrin Mynes], who was at a state competition, I knew this was going to be a tougher match than our first encounter against the much-improved North team,” said Gunter. “The big battles were at No. 4 and No. 5. Both Eli [Adams] and Will [Sinclair] lost their first set, but bounced back to win the second, forcing the tie break. Both were neck and neck all the way to 8-8 before Eli ended his with a perfect lob for the 10th point. Unfortunately, Will didn’t get the last two points, but it was his best match of the season. [I] was proud of the fight they both showed.”
In addition to convincing wins by Jack Sgro at No. 1, Mica Jacobs at No. 2 and freshman Conner Baldwin at No. 6, Adams and Sinclair played two of the day’s most dramatic matches. Having lost four out of six in singles, North gave Franklin a scare in doubles, winning narrowly 8-6 at No. 3 and taking a 9-8 (7-4) tiebreak at No. 2. At No. 1 however, Jacobs and fellow sophomore Jack Hyatt gave their team the all-important fifth victory 8-6.
“At Nos. 2 and 3 doubles, both teams played hard but came up short,” said Gunter. “I was glad we won, even though it was by the skin of our teeth. We still need to work on being more relaxed and confident when our opponents are attacking at the net and when we are up at the net. This would make life much easier for us at the tail end of the season.”
After dispatching East and North, the Panthers had just one week left of the regular season, with three M7C matches in four days April 17-20. They must win all three, including a trip to West April 19, to earn a share of the conference title. The Falcons won 7-2 in the rivals’ first meeting at the Macon County Rec Park March 21.