Franklin County was the first local girls tennis team to capture a sectional. The Wildcats held a 2-1 lead in points over host Connersville when Thursday’s match was suspended. Play resumed Friday and the Cats collected the final two points to beat the Spartans 4-1. The Brookville ladies then took on Rushville in Friday’s championship and nipped the Lions 3-2.
According to Franklin County AD Denny Dorrel, wins by the doubles teams of Roth/Knapp and Barker/Cowen set up the championship being decided by No. 1 singles. Senior Kacie Williams secured the title winning in a back and forth, two-set match.
On Saturday, two more local schools won the sectional hardware.
Fresh off a huge 3-2 victory over host East Central on Friday, Oldenburg topped Lawrenceburg 4-1 in Saturday’s finale.
And Saturday at Greensburg, the host Pirates picked up a suspended match with Southwestern Hanover from Thursday which only had two positions go final, both won by the Lady Buccaneers. While the weather was good on Friday, the Rebels could not play due to graduation, so the match was pushed to 9 am Saturday. The wait was worth it for the Pirates as Greenburg swept a very good Southwestern team 5-0.
G’burg then had a very quick turnaround to play Jennings County at 11:30 am. The Pirates got it done in 5-0 fashion against the Panthers. Jenna Foster, Abigail Hoeing and Josie Nobbe took the singles. The doubles winners included Ella Chapman with Janae Comer and Morgan Cain with Hailey Duerstock. (More information follows below.)
Regional semifinals are Tuesday. Greensburg takes on Columbus North at Bloomington South. And at Richmond, Oldenburg battles Centerville while Franklin County faces New Castle.
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Unedited coaches reports…
Greensburg’s June Rigney- After several days of attempting to play the tennis sectional due to rain, the Lady Pirates took home the hardware early afternoon on Saturday. We started the first round of sectional play against Southwestern Hanover on Thursday, but only Abigail Hoeing had won 6-3, 6-1, and our #1 doubles team, Ella Chapman and Janae Comer, 6-1 6-2.
Southwestern was unable to play on Friday due to graduation, so when we picked things up on Saturday morning at 9:00. Our #2 doubles team of Morgan Cain and Hailey Duerstock won 6-0 6-4 and then like dominoes, Josie Nobbe won @ #3 singles won 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, followed by #1 singles Jenna Foster, 6-0, 6-4. We defeated Southwestern Hanover 5-0.
At 11:30, we faced Jennings County for the championship. Winning handily was our #2 doubles team of Morgan Cain and Hailey Duerstock 6-2 6-1 and shortly after that match completed, Josie Nobbe won @ #2 singles 6-0 6-0. The other three matches were battles. Ella Chapman and Janae Comer at #1 doubles, lost the first set 3-6 and then they turned it around to give us the point we needed, winning 6-2 6-3. Abigail Hoeing beat a very solid opponent at #2 singles winning 6-1 6-4. Jenna Foster @ #1 singles lost the first set to a hard hitting opponent 3-6, but she found a way to come out on top, taking the next two sets 6-3 6-2 to seal our championship match 5-0.
This team plays with such heart, and grit. They overcome obstacles on the court and find a way to win. I love their attitudes. With these two wins, we are now 15-2 and play on Tuesday at Bloomington South High School in the regional.
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Rushville’s Daniel Riddell- The #1 doubles team of Cora Emory and Isabella Wilson traveled to Connersville to finish their first round match of sectionals against Union County. The duo won four straight games to defeat the Lady Patriots 6-0, 7-5 and give the team an overall victory with a score of 5-0.
The team then took on Franklin County in the sectional final. Jin Calaf was the first match off of the courts at #3 singles, defeating her opponent 6-0, 6-2. Next to finish was Olivia Yager, winning in straight sets of 6-0, 6-1. The #2 doubles team of Mallory McDaniel and Brooklyn Newbold started strong but lost momentum, dropping the match to their opponents 3-6, 0-6. The #1 doubles squad of Cora Emory and Isabella Wilson provided strong competition with many games going to deuce but eventually fell to the Wildcats in straight sets 4-6, 2-6.
With the team score tied at 2-2, the title came down to #1 singles. Previously losing to her opponent 1-6, 2-6 in the regular season, Audrey Gulley gained ground narrowly losing in her first set with a score of 5-7. The second set was determined by a tiebreaker, leading to a set score of 6-7 and an overall team loss of 2-3.
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