FORTVILLE – For the fifth consecutive year, the Mt. Vernon Marauders are celebrating a Hancock County girls county championship in tennis. But unlike the past two seasons, when the Marauders won the tournament without losing a match, New Palestine, Greenfield-Centra, and Eastern Hancock each put up a fight to make Mt. Vernon earn it.
“Winning this one is special,” Marauders coach Gabe Muterspaugh said afterward.
The Marauders won all three singles spots on the night, highlighted by senior No. 1 singles player Alaina Nelson, who won both of her matches 6-0, 6-0. At No. 2 singles, freshman Lydia Ruegsegger beat senior Ivy Simmons of New Palestine 6-4, 6-1 to win her first county championship flight. And at No. 3 singles, Kaleigh Helm defeated Grace Hall of Greenfield-Central 6-0, 6-0 to complete the singles sweep for the Marauders.
“I’ve been coaching 22 years and I can’t remember a number one singles player doing that in a county tournament,” Muterspaugh said. “And as for Lydia, no matter how good you are, its always tough in your first county tournament and she really stepped up and worked through her nerves to win that match.”
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At No. 1 doubles, Sophie Williams and Olivia Spicer defeated Josie King and Claire Cherry of New Palestine 6-3, 6-1 to win the title for Mt. Vernon. For Muterspaugh, that victory was the most special of the night.
“Olivia was our No. 2 singles player last year and went 22-5,” Muterspaugh said. “We returned all of our singles players and Ruegsegger came in and kind of created a log jam there. But as our captain she volunteered to move to doubles to help the team out, and she’s really learning and just doing great.”
New Palestine
New Palestine was able to chip away at Mt. Vernon’s iron grip on the county titles the past few years when Sheridan Schrow and Ashley Truman won the No. 2 doubles flight by defeating Mt. Vernon in the first round and Greenfield-Central’s Erin Wright and Aly Proper 6-3, 6-2 in the championship round.
Jean Graham, filling in for Des Evans, thought her Dragons played well overall. Specifically, she thought her No. 2 singles player and No. 1 doubles team really pushed Mt. Vernon.
“Well, Mt. Vernon is a great team to start,” Graham said. “There really aren’t many weaknesses for us to exploit, but Ivy and our #1 doubles team really did a great job and the matches were closer than the scores indicated.”
At No. 1 doubles, Josie King shined at the net and gave the Marauders a bit of a scare by going up 2-0 in the first set.
“Josie is our quickest player,” Graham said. “So she’s able to cover a lot of ground and get some volleys a lot of girls wouldn’t get to; Mt. Vernon was trying to keep the ball away from Claire [Cherry], and Josie really stepped up.”
At No. 2 singles, senior Ivy Simmons pushed Ruegsegger of Mt. Vernon hard in the first set.
“Ivy is our senior and she showed some great mettle tonight,” Graham said. “I think she got a bit winded in the second set but she’s certainly capable of getting sets off of her.”
Greenfield-Central
Greenfield-Central coach Michael Turpin didn’t think his Cougars played their best Friday night, but believes his team is headed in the right direction. The Cougars did not win any titles, but each of his players won at least one match and improved against teams they had lost to previously.
“We definitely did not play as well as we could have,” Turpin said. “But we had some close matches that went against us and I saw some improvement in girls.”
Particularly apparent in improvement for Turpin was his No. 3 singles player Grace Hall. Just the night before she had lost to Kaleigh Helm of Mt. Vernon.
“She lost by the same score as she did last night, but if you really watched the match you could tell that Grace was understanding more about the game and beginning to understand what she needs to do when playing against someone of that talent level.”
The Cougars’ No. 2 doubles team of Erin Wright and Aly Proper also impressed Turpin by reaching the championship round.
“I really like the county tournament,” Turpin said. “As a coach, it gives you a pretty clear picture of what you need to improve on before sectionals against these same teams.”
Eastern Hancock
For the Eastern Hancock Royals, Friday night was another step in the team’s improvement. This tournament is always a challenge for the Royals, as they are competing against three much larger schools all at once.
“It’s definitely tough going against schools this size,” Royals coach Tom Huff said. “But it doesn’t scare us and it doesn’t stop us from focusing on what we need to to accomplish our team goals.”
For the Royals coaching staff, they are working on the basics of the game with the team and they are seeing improvement.
“We are still working on teaching the girls top spin,” Huff said. “But I’m seeing them out there getting better with it and its showing by how they are playing tonight.”
Showing the most fight for the Royals was the No. 1 doubles team in the consolation flight against Greenfield-Central, losing in three sets.
Team Score
Mt. Vernon – 30
New Palestine – 18
Greenfield-Central – 12
Eastern Hancock – 0
