FORTVILLE — Mt. Vernon and Greenfield-Central girls tennis teams made their intentions known early in Wednesday’s semifinal round of the Mt. Vernon Sectional.
The Marauders — against Eastern Hancock — and the Cougars — against Pendleton Heights — won the majority of first sets in their matches that would decide which teams would play in today’s championship contest.
Mt. Vernon combined to win 30 of 34 first-set games, jumping out to decisive one-set leads against the Royals. Eastern Hancock was more competitive in the second sets, but the Marauders went on to win all five matches in straight sets, posting a 5-0 victory and berth into the title match.
Greenfield-Central was the first team to get its championship match ticket. In just over one hour, the Cougars had four matches completed with straight set wins. At No. 1 and No. 2 singles and in both doubles matches, Greenfield-Central won 48 of 53 games.
Pendleton Heights was able to get on the board with a victory at No. 3 singles, a three-setter, but the outcome of the match had long been determined. After a 5-0 victory in a regular-season match on May 9, Greenfield-Central defeated Pendleton Heights 4-1 Wednesday.
The Cougars No. 2 doubles team of Hallie Smith and Lauren Chastain were the first to leave the courts, winning 6-0, 6-0 over the Pendleton Heights pair of Isabella Ritchey and Sara Ghosh. No. 1 singles player Brianna McConnell won nearly as convincingly by defeating Jessica Thompson 6-1, 6-0.
The No. 1 doubles team of Emma Berty and Jaclyn Layton won the match-clinching third point, defeating Ellie Manchess and Alaina Moore, 6-1, 6-0. Shortly after the clincher, No. 2 singles player Kammi Anderson won 6-2, 6-1 against Angelia Thorsen.
The most competitive match in either semifinal came in the Cougars-Arabians battle at No. 3 singles.
In three sets, Pendleton Heights Josie Graves hung on to beat Greenfield-Central’s Madison Succaw 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.
“I thought we looked good,” Greenfield-Central coach Michael Turpin said . “We came out and did exactly what we were supposed to do. For the most part, a relatively quick match.
“We beat them (in the regular season), but you have to come out knowing there are no guarantees. You have to put it on the court. The girls definitely took that mentality (Wednesday).”
A five-team sectional, Mt. Vernon was the lone team playing on back-to-back nights, but its quick start showed no fatigue from a tough 3-2 opening round win against New Palestine on Tuesday.
Eastern Hancock made Mt. Vernon work, but the Marauders finished the night in a familiar place, a spot in the sectional championship match.
No. 1 Kylie Brandes was the first to leave the courts, defeating EH’s Lexi Swauger 6-0, 6-0. Mt. Vernon’s No. 1 doubles team of Carmen Lugo and Kim Joubert followed with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Savanah Hardin and Mikayla Hardy.
For the second straight night the deciding third point came at No. 3 singles. Maria Downs defeated Tori Parker 6-1, 7-5. Moments later Mt. Vernon’s Addison Lockwood and Sophia Maxwell defeated Pheebie Nelson and Sarah Clark at No. 2 doubles 6-1, 6-4.
In the final match of the night, Mt. Vernon No. 2 Ava Lusby defeated Sophie Harden 6-0, 6-1.
“This is that middle, the toughest match, I think, of the whole thing,” Mt. Vernon coach Gabe Muterspaugh said. “You’ve won a huge match (Tuesday over New Palestine) and you have an eye on the final, but the team you’re playing wants to beat you. You jump out early and maybe you miss a couple points and things get tight.
“We got a little tight for a while, but we pulled it out and won 5-0. I’m proud of the girls. We’re in the finals. This is where we’re supposed to be and we let it all hang out (Thursday).”
“I think we were ready to go, more than the county tournament (in April),” Eastern Hancock coach Chris Hardin said of his team’s performance. “Our schedule is a lot of smaller schools. Our conference is a lot of smaller schools. The girls come over and play Mt. Vernon and New Pal, and a lot of time they get intimidated and that happened at county, but it didn’t happen (Wednesday).
“Mt. Vernon is a Top 30 team in the state and we hit stroke for stroke with them at every position. We didn’t win as many games and that’s the one thing we’re missing, that put-away shot … that’s something we need to work on really hard this summer so we can win those points when we’re hitting with them.”
Today’s championship match will be the second meeting of the year between Greenfield-Central and Mt. Vernon.
The Marauders won 4-1 on April 20, though Greenfield-Central has a different lineup since the regular-season meeting.
Mt. Vernon is looking for a sectional title for the ninth straight season. They haven’t lost in a title match since 2013, against New Palestine. They’ve won every sectional played since, only to be stopped in 2020 when the season was canceled due to the pandemic.
It will be the third straight year Greenfield-Central has been the championship match opponent.
“This is huge,” Muterspaugh added. “We lost five of the seven (to graduation) from last year’s championship team. For these girls to work their tails off to get to this point and have the opportunity to win it again shows the culture of these girls. (Assistant coach Graham McMullen and I) can get them there, but they have to do it out on the court and they’ve done it all year long.”
“Every single match is a new match,” Turpin said of today’s title tilt. “It all starts fresh. The past doesn’t really matter. You have to start a clean slate and, honestly, the way we looked (Wednesday), we feel comfortable.”
