For The Tribune

BLOOMINGTON

Seymour boys tennis coach Brad Emerson said his players put up a good fight, but the Owls’ season came to an end Tuesday against Columbus North in the Bloomington North Regional semifinals.

Seymour fell 5-0 to the No. 24-ranked Bull Dogs, but Adam Berry had a tightly contested match at No. 2 singles. Berry’s match against North’s Joey Zhao lasted for about two hours, culminating in a third-set super-tiebreaker.

Berry won the first set 6-3 before Zhao came back to win the second set 7-5. Zhao won the super-tiebreaker 10-7 to give the Bull Dogs their fifth point.

“I think it was good for Adam’s sake knowing that he could compete,” Emerson said. “He’s done that all year for me. He’s battled against some really good players and did the same thing over and over. He put up a good fight, and the other kid had to earn it.”

Columbus North (17-2) advances to play Bloomington North in today’s regional championship. The Owls finish the season 11-7.

Ty McCory fell to Kevin Lin 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 singles. Isaac Hardin lost to Akshaya Sabapathy 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.

Will Reinhart and Sam Schmidt fell to Isaac Jackson and Ben Mathew 6-1, 6-3 at No. 1 doubles. Pablo Jimenez and Trey Hohenstreiter lost to Chris Ruble and Adam Saad 6-0, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles.

Emerson said he was pleased with the season the Owls had this year.

“To get through our sectional against a really good Scottsburg team, that was a big moment for us.” Emerson said. “That was a very tight match. Our kids have been through some real tough matches the last couple days. I don’t know if it wore on us a little bit, but I just think we really came leaps and bounds from the start of the season until now.”

The Owls will lose only one senior for next season in McCory, and Emerson said he is looking forward to the rest of the team improving during the offseason.