Cougars blank Panthers

In a matchup of county tennis rivals, Mt. Vernon dispatched Greenfield-Central 4-1 Tuesday.

The visiting Marauders received straight-set wins at No. 2 singles (Ben Bobb over Chris Kersey) and No. 3 singles (Nick Pham over Brandon Hull).

MV then recorded three-set victories at No. 1 doubles (Chandler Hines/Andrew Noble over Max Holtzclaw/Jake Kauth) and No. 2 doubles (Corey Beck/Matt Hays over Luke Vowell/Bailey Hull).

Dakota Smith topped Bryce Bobb to notch the Cougars’ lone victory.

 “Dakota played a great match tonight, and I hope that helps his confidence a lot,” G-C coach Jeff Sincroft said. “We battled back at some spots to force a third set, but we didn’t play well when the pressure was on. Mt. Vernon definitely deserves credit for stepping up more than us at the crucial points in most matches.”

MV (6-3, 1-2 Hoosier Heritage Conference) is at Shelbyville today while G-C (6-3, 1-3 HHC) hosts Knightstown.

Volleyball

New Palestine 3, Eastern Hancock 2

The New Palestine volleyball team ended its seven-game losing streak Tuesday by edging Eastern Hancock in a tight five-set match, 25-27, 25-14, 17-25, 25-17, 15-11.

Katie Morris (14 kills, 10 assists, three blocks, three aces), Jamie Morris (13 kills, 19 digs, ace), McKenze Qualkinbush (seven kills, five blocks) and Megan Hawley (22 digs, ace) paced a balanced Dragon attack.

The Royals were led by Frannie Stephenson (26 kills, 27 digs), Hannah Best (32 digs), Melissa Bedell (19 kills, 13 digs) and Jordian Eastes (51 assists, three aces).

NP (3-7) is at the Greenwood Invitational Saturday. EH (5-5) is at Hauser today.

Greenfield-Central 3, Knightstown 0

G-C swept Knightstown going away Tuesday, 25-15, 25-9, 25-19.

Megan Bradley (24 assists), Rachel Irbe (13 kills, three aces, three digs) and Alex Colclazier (three aces, 14 digs) guided the Cougars.

G-C coach Rita Rouse is looking for improvement out of her squad, however.

“I need these girls to step up and play an entire match at their highest level, and let them just see what they can really do as a team,” she said. “It’s not always about winning and losing, it’s about playing up to your potential point after point, game after game, match after match.”

G-C is at New Castle today.

Zionsville 3, Mt. Vernon 0

MV was swept at Zionsville Tuesday, 25-5, 25-15, 25-11.

Ellie Balbach (nine kills), Mary Grace Ertel (seven assists) and Lexi Reasor (nine digs) led the Marauders.

MV hosts Yorktown today.

Cross country

Lady Royals top Tri

Eastern Hancock secured six of the top seven places Tuesday against Tri and wound up with a 18-41 dual meet victory.

Kiersten Schrope (first), Shelby Wyatt (second), Karlee Gray (fourth), Cara Johnson (fifth), Hope Spaulding (sixth) and Hannah Miller (seventh) were the top runners for the Royals.

The EH boys’ score was incomplete, but Parker West placed third and was followed by Jacob Mueller (fourth), Nathan Kell (fifth) and Mitchell Scott (sixth)

The Royals are at the Blackford Invitational Saturday.

Boys’ soccer

Mt. Vernon 4, Yorktown 0

CJ Coleman registered a first-half hat trick while Mouhamed Konate tallied an unassisted goal in the second half as MV moved to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in HHC play.

Corban Harley collected four saves for his third clean sheet of the season.

“The most complete game we have played all year, start to finish. We didn’t play well, but we worked them everywhere and just beat them down into the ground,” MV coach Aaron Britt said. “(We) haven’t played with that effort in any game yet this year.

“When we want to work we can be a very good team. We need consistency.”

Konate also assisted on Coleman’s last two goals. Matt Powell assisted on Coleman’s first score.

MV hosts G-C today.

Franklin 1, Greenfield-Central 0

The Cougars dropped a close home match Tuesday, falling to 3-3 on the season.

“We continue to play well defensively and continue getting opportunities,” G-C coach Jared Manning said. “Franklin was a very quality team. I’m looking forward to practice and continuing to get better.”

New Castle 3, New Palestine 0

The Dragons’ five-game unbeaten streak and four-game shutout streak was snapped by the Trojans Tuesday.

NP (4-2-1) is at Shelbyville today.

Girls’ golf

Guerin Catholic 148, Hamilton Heights 163, Mt. Vernon 170

Ellen Wuerch and Briley Wills both carded 40’s to pace the Marauders, who lost their first dual match of the season Tuesday at Guerin Catholic.

Guerin’s Lucy Stevens (34) was the match medalist.

MV (12-2 in dual matches) and Yorktown are at Lapel today.

G-C falls to Connersville and Hagerstown

The Cougars recorded a 197 to place third in a tri-match at Hartley Hills Golf Course Tuesday.

Makenzie Fisk (46) had the low score for G-C, which is at Pendleton Heights today.