THE REPORTER
Fishers’ Mischa Briggs and the Carmel doubles team of Ali Griffin and Alexa Lewis both placed third at the IHSAA state individual tournament Saturday at Park Tudor.
Briggs played her semifinal match against Columbus North junior Kathryn Wilson. Wilson won the match 6-3, 6-1, and went on to beat South Bend St. Joseph junior Molly Bellia 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the championship match, giving her an undefeated season at 30-0.
It was still a great season for Briggs. She finished her sophomore year 28-2, and helped Fishers to its third consecutive appearance in the team state finals.
In doubles, Carmel’s team of seniors Ali Griffin and Alexa Lewis received a bye into the semifinals, where they played the North Central team of senior Rachel Grissom and junior Caroline Robinson. The Panthers duo won the first set 6-3, but the Greyhounds team came back to win the second set 6-3. Grissom and Robinson then took the third set 6-0 to win the match.
Carmel coach Dan Brunette said that “a lot of tennis is momentum, and North Central did a good job keeping the pressure on.”
The North Central team dropped the championship to the Jasper duo of seniors Allison Schnarr and Brailyn Whaley 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.
Griffin and Lewis had a fine season as well, with a 27-2 record. They also helped Carmel to another team state championship, its second in a row and a state record 13th overall.
“The girls had a good season,” said Brunette, who noted that Griffin and Lewis had “never played together before. To come out and do what they did was impressive. They’re seniors, so I wish them the best of luck moving forward and they made a good mark on the tennis team.”