By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – The Westfield girls tennis team was in new territory Tuesday at the Noblesville Tennis Complex.
For the first time ever, the No. 16-ranked Shamrocks were playing in a regional. Westfield made its first match a successful one, beating Alexandria 5-0 in the Tuesday semifinal to advance to today’s championship match.
The Shamrocks dropped only four games across the five matches, including 6-0, 6-0 shutouts for No. 2 singles Juliette Grilliot and No. 3 singles Addi Kooi. No. 1 singles Isabella Norris won 6-1, 6-0, No. 2 doubles Brianna Saylor/Carlie Lukowiak were 6-0, 6-1 winners, and No. 1 doubles Bella Rivera/Jenna Berry were victorious 6-1, 6-1.
“First round of regional is exciting, and you just got to get through the nerves the first couple of games,” said Westfield coach Trudy Coler. “And once we got going, we were okay. Whenever you’re playing a team you haven’t seen during the season, you also have to figure out things.”
The Shamrocks continued their season-long road trip, as they were without home courts this year due to the construction of Westfield’s new tennis facility. But the Rocks have made the best out of being road warriors this season.
“I think there is something to be said for the fact that every time you play a match, you’re getting off a bus, and you got a 10-minute warmup, and then you’ve got to go and get ready to play,” said Coler. “We got into a rhythm, we got into a very specific routine, and we did that every time. Every time we got off the bus, we did the same thing over and over. I do think it helped strengthen us, to play on the road and to come in and play matches away from home.”
Westfield plays No. 20 Delta today for the regional title. The Shamrocks played the Eagles at the beginning of the season in the Delta Invitational.
“I’m looking forward to it because we haven’t seen them since the very beginning,” said Coler. “All the girls have gotten better on both teams.”
Carmel, Fishers win
No. 7-ranked Carmel scored an upset victory over No. 5 Park Tudor Tuesday in the semifinals of the Lebanon regional.
The Greyhounds beat the Panthers 4-1 and will play Fountain Central in today’s regional championship.
No. 2 Fishers also took care of business at the Mount Vernon regional, beating New Castle 5-0 in a Tuesday semifinal. The Tigers take on the No. 18-ranked host Marauders today for the regional title.
Buttrick advances
University’s Laurel Buttrick advanced in the individual tournament Tuesday by beating Lebanon’s Ava Lehmkuhler 6-4, 6-0.
Buttrick will play Zionsville’s Lucy King today at Lebanon in her next match.
CORRECTION
Carmel No. 1 doubles Gabby Hall and Addison Joyce won their match during the Greyhounds’ sectional championship victory over Zionsville last Thursday.