Notre Dame tennis rolls to C2D1 title

Notre Dame's Matthew Austin returns a ball during the Bulldogs' 5-0 win over Poplar Bluff in the Class 2 District 1 Championship on Friday, May 10, at Notre Dame Regional High School.

Clay Herrell ~ cherrell@semoball.com

The taste of victory was sweet for the Notre Dame Bulldogs on Friday.

Literally.

Fueled by a desire to win another Class 2 District 1 championship, the Bulldogs also had an added incentive; Crumbl Cookies.

The Bulldogs defeated Poplar Bluff 5-0 to win the district title on Friday morning at Notre Dame Regional High School.

Afterward, the Bulldogs players and coaches tracked down their shirts representing the cookie brand.

“It kind of started out as a little joke,” Bulldogs coach Pershard Owens said. “We get Crumbl Cookies anytime we go somewhere and then Matthew's (Austin) awesome mom bought everyone shirts. We posted them on Instagram and sure enough Crumbl reached out and let’s just say they don’t have to worry about paying for Crumbl Cookie for the rest of the season.”

As each team’s three doubles pairings began action on Friday, it was the Bulldogs jumping out to an early advantage.

The three Notre Dame duos of Matthew Austin and Blake Schreckenberg, Charlie West and Thomas Southard and Michael Bogdanovich and Owen Blattel all won their matches 8-4 to give the Bulldogs a commanding 3-0 lead.

“I always tell my boys and my girls to try and get two or three of the doubles,” Owens said. “It allows you to relax more in singles and it gives them a boost of confidence.”

Owens said on the opposing end the pressure of being down 3-0 impacts the mental game.

“It just puts a lot of pressure on you,” Owens said. “You’re thinking you have to do extra stuff to get your team back in it.”

The district final was initially scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, but forecasted weather earlier in the week forced the match to be moved to Friday morning.

“This season has been so unpredictable,” Owens said. “They adjusted like I figured they would because that’s the type of boys they are. They adjusted well and played really well against a tough Poplar Bluff team. I was nervous coming into the match because they have played us close this season.”

With the confidence of being up 3-0, Austin won his singles match 6-0 and 6-0 and Southard won his singles match 6-0 and 6-1 to give the Bulldogs the five necessary points to emerge victorious.

“I just told the boys to be aggressive,” Owens said. “We wanted to get on the court and get it done.”

Up next for the Bulldogs is a Class 2 quarterfinal matchup with MICDS on Monday, May 13.

“We know that we can do it,” Owens said. “We know that they’re beatable we’re just going to have to play within ourselves and not try and do more than we need to.”