FORTVILLE — The Mt. Vernon Marauders were more than ready to defend their sectional crown and extend their championship streak to six years on Friday night.
New Palestine came ready to do their best to stop their county rivals. Their best wasn’t enough.
The Marauders and Dragons each advanced to Friday’s sectional championship match with big semifinal wins, with the Marauders knocking off Greenfield-Central, 5-0, in one semifinal and New Palestine besting Eastern Hancock, 4-1, in the other.
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But Mt. Vernon left no doubt against the Dragons. The sectional hosts won all three singles positions in the championship match, then picked up a doubles win en route to their sixth consecutive sectional title, a 4-1 win.
“What a journey. I talked with the girls and said, endgame. I wanted to make sure that nobody thought that New Pal was better than us,” Mt. Vernon coach Gabe Muterspaugh said. “We played them in county, we won 4-1. We played them in the season, we didn’t have a full squad, OK. Here, tonight for the sectional title, we played fantastic, led by Kaleigh Helm setting the tone.”
The Dragons and Marauders had seen each other twice this season, with Mt. Vernon winning the county tournament and the Dragons topping the Marauders, 4-1, on May 7 in a head-to-head match.
Things were different in Friday’s rematch. Mt. Vernon was without No. 1 singles player Lydia Ruegsegger and No. 3 singles player Louisa Batge in the regular-season meeting. Both Ruegsegger and Batge won county titles, topping New Palestine’s Megan Long and Caylie Almond, respectively.
They did the same Friday night after Helm got things going with a 6-0, 6-2 win against New Palestine’s Nicole Wernimont.
“I was fired up and I was determined to win,” Helm said. “I just went out there and played how I know how to play. I was in the zone and just ready to play. I was hoping to get a 6-0, 6-0 win. I was close.”
Batge followed next, a 6-3, 6-2 winner against Almond. Moments later, Ruegsegger walked off the court a winner, clinching the match for the Marauders. She topped Long, 6-3, 6-2.
“The trophies are great, you want to have those titles, but this group … look at their smiling faces,” Muterspaugh said. “They’ll never forget this, and I will never forget it. We had seniors, foreign exchange kids, freshmen, sophomores, juniors, every class helped us, and that’s awesome. We did lose all-state players last year, and to come back with a different group … the success breeds success.”
The final Mt. Vernon point came at No. 2 doubles, where Lexi Shelton and Maddie Swingle topped New Palestine’s Ashley Truman and Sheridan Schrowe, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).
Shelton and Swingle, two newcomers to the team this year in their sophomore and freshman seasons, respectively, topped the same Dragons duo for a county title this spring.
“It feels really good, especially because me and Lexi have been on a team together now for half a school year because of basketball,” Swingle said. “Everything that we do feels 10 times better because we win it together or we lose together.”
New Palestine got their point from the final match to conclude, with the No. 1 doubles team of Claire Cherry and Josee King advancing in the doubles tournament with a hard-fought, 6-3, 7-5 win against Alexis Lane and Maeve Laughlin.
“We just made too many unforced errors,” New Palestine coach Jean Graham said. “I think the girls tried hard. Mt. Vernon has some good athletes. Typically, good athletes rise to the occasion. Our girls tried and we came up short, but it’s probably about the best they can do, so we’ve got to be happy with it and try to work on improving things.”
Friday’s semifinal matches all wrapped up in straight sets, with Mt. Vernon sweeping Greenfield-Central and the Dragons taking four of five spots from Eastern Hancock.
The Royals’ win came at No. 2 singles, where senior Cassandra Hannemann topped New Palestine’s Eliza Adams, 6-4, 6-3.
The team loss wraps up a relatively successful season for the Royals. They came into the year hoping to reach .500 and did just that, finishing 7-7 despite dealing with several key injuries.
“I’m really, really excited for this season and next season. I think we’re going to do really well,” Eastern Hancock coach Tom Huff said. “I think even if we didn’t have those injuries, we could have had added another three, four matches on that, possibly. I’m really excited about the record. We haven’t been this good since I think 2010.”
For the Cougars, Royals and Dragons, the 2019 tennis season has officially come to an end, aside from Cherry and King advancing. For the sectional champions, they’ve got at least one more match left, a Tuesday date with Hamilton Southeastern in the North Central Regional.
It will be the second time this season that the Marauders see these Royals, having lost to them 5-0 on May 10 while shorthanded due to injury.
They will go in with the same attitude they bring to every match, something that they believe has helped lead to their success.
“I think it’s just because we go in with the mentality that we’re not losing,” Swingle said. “Our mood is we’re not going to leave until we’re winning. We’re not going to leave losing.”
“We want to take that next step,” Muterspaugh said. “I know we won’t play scared. I know we’re going to give them everything we’ve got. We’re going to try to continue to reach those regional finals, and some day we’re going to break through and not shock the world, because we’re expecting to do it.”