Daily Reporter staff reports
FORTVILLE — The Mt. Vernon Marauders clinched at least a share of their third straight Hoosier Heritage Conference boys soccer title Tuesday night after blanking rival Shelbyville 3-0 at home.
The Marauders, who are 8-1 on the season, improved to 6-0 in the HHC with one conference game remaining on their schedule against Pendleton Heights on Sept. 21. If they defeat Pendleton Heights, the Marauders will clinch their second straight outright title.
Shelbyville (6-4, 2-1 HHC) entered Tuesday as the only other unbeaten team in the conference, but Mt. Vernon scored one goal in the first half and two more in the second to control their own destiny.
Drew Heitman posted the first goal in the fourth minute on an assist by Jacob Knepper. Midway through the second half, Logan Angelopulos went to work and scored a pair of goals to put Mt. Vernon up 3-0.
The Marauders travel to Hamilton Southeastern tonight.
New Palestine chops down Woodmen
The New Palestine boys soccer team improved to 5-5 on the season with a 4-1 victory against Greenwood on Tuesday.
The Dragons broke a scoreless tie in the second half as Holton Gwaltney scored the first of his three goals in five minutes. Connor Kelley added the fourth goal.
“Overall, the boys played well,” New Palestine head coach Justin Sass said. “We had the better of the possession against Greenwood, and it was great to see us finish some chances.”
The Dragons play at Greenfield-Central tonight.
Cross-country
Royals place third, fourth
The Eastern Hancock Royals boys cross-country team finished fourth with 82 points, and the Royals’ girls placed third with 64 at the Centerville Invitational on Tuesday.
Will Huffman ran a personal-best for the second time in four days, placing fourth with a 17:45.1. Skyler Schrope was sixth at 18:06.2. Daniel Campbell also was in the top 20 with a 14th-place run at 18:52.3.
Annie Floyd finished at 23:14.6, and Grace McCartney came in at 24:58.5 for the girls’ team.
Marauder boys place second
The Mt. Vernon boys cross-country team finished second at “The Plex” during the Muncie Central Invitational on Tuesday.
Alex Carver, Marco Ramirez, Jacob Benz, and Drew Bluethmann all placed in the top 15 for the Marauders. The junior varsity team won the event taking nine of the first 10 spots.
Tennis
New Palestine sweeps Arsenal Tech
The New Palestine boys tennis team cruised past Arsenal Tech 5-0 on Tuesday.
The Dragons gave up only one game en route to improving their season mark to 12-4. The county champion junior varsity team also won 2-1 to improve their record to 12-1.
At No. 1 singles Ethan Haeberle won 6-0, 6-0. At No. 2 singles, Trevor Darley prevailed 6-0, 6-1. Aiden Miller posted a 6-0, 6-0 sweep at No. 3 singles.
Dane Reid and Nathan Hubbard rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 1 doubles. Nico Martin and Justin Wilcher teamed to win 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 doubles.
The Dragons traveled to New Castle on Wednesday and host Triton Central on Thursday.
Girls golf
Dragons fire season best, head to sectional
The New Palestine Dragons shot a season-best nine-hole score to defeat Mt. Vernon 159-187.
Annaliese Fox paced the team with a 35. Mackenzi Black added a 36. Izzy Gray shot a 43, and Regina Olsen finished with a 45.
Morgan Hear led the Marauders with a 44 in Mt. Vernon’s regular-season finale. Sectional play begins Saturday.
Volleyball
Dragons drop heartbreaker
The New Palestine volleyball team lost a five-set thriller to No. 16 Delta 3-2 on Tuesday night.
The Eagles won 25-16, 10-25, 23-25, 25-21, 21-19.
Allison Dennemann posted 30 kills, 20 digs and nine aces for the Dragons. Mia Long had a double-double with 17 kills and 15 digs. Sydney Robertson dished out 53 assists, while Lydia Jones had 17 digs. Audrey VanderWal added 13 digs.
“This was such a heartbreaking loss. The girls wanted this bad, and we battled every single point,” Dragons head coach Kelli Whitaker said. “The game went back and forth several times with both teams defending match point. It was a great effort.”
The Dragons are 12-3 on the season and 1-1 in the HHC. The Dragons were home Wednesday against Pike.
