TERRE HAUTE — The favorites took care of business in cool, efficient fashion Friday evening at the girls high school tennis sectional at Terre Haute South.
Their coaches hope that ninth-ranked South, a 5-0 winner Friday over South Vermillion, and 12th-ranked Terre Haute North, which dispatched Sullivan by the same score, are as efficient in today’s 10 a.m. championship match.
They’ve been around this rivalry long enough to know that cool is probably not an option.
“I like the way [the Braves] played,” said coach Bill Blankenbaker of the host team, which defeated the Patriots 3-2 in a thrilling regular-season match, “and we’re looking forward to [today]; it should match up to be a very good match.”
“It’s been a terrible spring for weather,” said coach Jim Cook of the Patriots, after praising the Friday sunshine, “but I feel pretty good about where we’re at. We’re 9-and-2, where last year we were something like 7-and-6 … and I like the way the kids played tonight.”
Both teams won three matches without losing a game, with South losing just five games altogether — four of them at No. 2 singles, where Wildcat senior Jenni McLeish had some nice shots early against Taylor Bullock, loser of just one match all year — and North dropping seven games, all of them in doubles matches.
The regular-season North-South match came down to the Braves winning two of three three-set matches, and the teams met each other in just one match at the recent Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference championships — where South’s Hunter Bullock avenged her regular-season loss to North’s Brittany Farmer at No. 1 singles.
The only possible upset today, in fact, might be a one-sided match at any one of the five positions.
“I think we’ve improved tremendously [since the first North-South match],” said Cook. “These girls know what we want them to try to do … we’re where we want to be right now.”
“We are improved [since then],” echoed Blankenbaker. “We’ve had some nice days to practice lately, and we like where we’re at. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
The hardest-working players in Friday’s competition were the Golden Arrows, who had to beat West Vigo 4-1 earlier in the afternoon before coming back against the Patriots. When the Vikings extended the Arrows to three long singles matches, it probably didn’t hurt North’s chances.
But coach Kathy Pirtle of the Arrows wasn’t complaining afterward, and for good reason.
“It was a long day,” she admitted, “but that’s all right. We played better this round against North than we had during the season — and we didn’t play quite as well against West Vigo as we had earlier.
“I’m real proud of [the Arrows] … and I’m happy overall with the way the sectional came out for us.”
Sullivan 4, West Vigo 1
Singles — Mackenzie Simmons (S) def. Josey Holscher 6-1, 5-7, 6-1; Taylor Brown (WV) def. Elizabeth Hauger 6-2, 4-6, 7-5; Addisson Ficklin (S) def. Megan Jackson 7-5, 6-0.
Doubles — Amber Dickerson-Kimberly Vonfeldt (S) def. Amanda Phillips-Ginny Phillips 6-1, 6-0; Heather Dickerson-Andrea Vonfeldt (S) def. Chelsy Brown-Emily Wheatfill 6-4, 6-0.
Terre Haute South 5, South Vermillion 0
Singles — Hunter Bullock (THS) def. Hannah Henry 6-0, 6-0; Taylor Bullock (THS) def. Jenni McLeish 6-3, 6-1; Eesha Purohit (THS) def. Brittany Spires 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles — Katie Bilyeu-Maddy Bogle (THS) def. Meghan Slaven-Brittany Wright 6-0, 6-0; Emma Bilyeu-Mallory Metheny (THS) def. Ashley Hancock-Cassie Zimmerman 6-1, 6-0.
Terre Haute North 5, Sullivan 0
Singles — Brittany Farmer (THN) def. Simmons 6-0, 6-0; Sarah Potter (THN) def. Hauger 6-0, 6-0; Morgan Mills (THN) def. Ficklin 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles — Paige Cook-Brittany Cuthbertson (THN) def. A.Dickerson-K.Vonfeldt 6-2, 6-2; Katie Behnke-Mary Kate Etling (THN) def. H.Dickerson-A.Vonfeldt 6-2, 6-1.
Next match — Ninth-ranked Terre Haute South (13-1) and 12th-ranked Terre Haute North (9-2) play at 10 a.m. today for the sectional championship. West Vigo finished 4-14, South Vermillion 2-12 and Sullivan 10-7.
High School
North, South tennis meet this morning in sectional
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