By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
It wasn’t that long ago when the Hamilton Southeastern girls tennis team was chasing its first ever sectional championship.
Now the Royals can’t stop – and won’t stop – winning. Eighth-ranked Southeastern won its fifth consecutive sectional title on Thursday, beating rival Fishers 5-0 to win the Noblesville sectional.
“It always feels good,” said Royals coach Kirk Webber. “Can’t believe it’s our fifth in a row. It seems like just yesterday we won our first one in school history. It’s pretty cool that we’ve established some championship tradition here.
“It’s great for the girls. They work hard. They’re fun to be around, very coachable. They get along really well with each other, so I’m just really proud of the way they played tonight. They stepped up.”
The first match to finish was at No. 2 singles, where Ashley Spirrison was a 6-0, 6-0 winner. Next up was No. 3 singles, with Tea Vrkic getting a 6-2, 6-0 victory.
Southeastern clinched the title minutes later, as No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles finished up almost right at the exact same second. Audrey De Witt finished up the No. 1 singles win 6-2, 6-1, while HSE’s No. 1 doubles team of Jeorgia Templin and Taylor Cleary was a 6-2, 6-2 winner.
At No. 2 singles, the Royals’ Nikki Hite and Jillian Pence engaged in a tough battle with the Tigers’ Claire Blake and Sonia Fuller. The Southeastern team won the first set 6-3, then both teams matched each other throughout the second set. Hite and Pence saved a couple of set points before getting into a tiebreak, where they won 7-2.
“I thought overall we played really well,” said Webber. “Once again our singles girls came out, got some early leads. That was big. Audrey started out close first set, then she pulled away. I think she rattled off four or five games. Same with Tea. First couple games it was close, and then she won four or five in a row to finish off the first set.”
“Once we got all five first sets, I was feeling pretty good,” said Webber.
Next up for HSE is playing in the North Central regional, which starts with semi-final action on Tuesday. The Royals play Lawrence North in the second semi-final, with No. 2 Cathedral taking on the Mount Vernon sectional winner in the other match. The championship at Mount Vernon will take place this afternoon between the No. 27 Marauders and Greenfield-Central.
Southeastern 5, Fishers 0
No. 1 singles: Audrey De Witt def. Lucy Loy 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 singles: Ashley Spirrison def. Makenzie Weber 6-0, 6-0
No. 3 singles: Tea Vrkic def. Emily Justice 6-2, 6-0
No. 1 doubles: Jeorgia Templin and Taylor Cleary def. Catherine Hutchinson and Avery Murphy 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 doubles: Nikki Hite and Jillian Pence def. Claire Blake and Sonia Fuller 6-3, 7-6 (2)
Over at the Todd Witsken Tennis Center, No. 1-ranked Carmel beat No. 20 Guerin Catholic 5-0 to win its own sectional championship. It’s the 27th consecutive sectional title for the Greyhounds and their 35th overall.
Carmel won all five matches in straight sets. At No. 2 singles, Sydney Morris had to win a tough first-set tiebreaker over the Golden Eagles’ Jenna Paton before winning the second set 6-1.
The ‘Hounds advance to the Kokomo regional, which begins with the semi-finals on Tuesday. Carmel will play the winner of the West Lafayette sectional, which has its championship match today between Lafayette Jefferson and Harrison.
The other regional semi-final will see the Kokomo sectional champion play the Logansport sectional winner. Both those sectional championships will be decided today: Northwestern plays Western at Kokomo, while the host Berries take on Twin Lakes at Logansport.
Carmel 5, Guerin Catholic 0
No. 1 singles: Lauren Lemonds def. Maggie McGuire 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 singles: Sydney Morris def. Jenna Patton 7-6 (1), 6-1
No. 3 singles: Franny Werner def. Madelyn Filer 6-0, 6-1
No. 1 doubles: Grace Marchese and Emma Brune def. Shanna Shuler and Eryn McMullen 6-1, 6-0
No. 2 doubles: Leila Antony and Apurva Manas def. Bailey Buehnerkemper and Ellen Gardner 6-0, 6-1
Hamilton Southeastern won its fifth consecutive girls tennis championship on Thursday. The Royals beat Fishers 5-0 and will advance to Tuesday’s regional at North Central. (Richie Hall)
Carmel continued its long sectional championship streak on Thursday by beating Guerin Catholic 5-0. This is the 27th consecutive sectional title for the Greyhounds. (Photo provided)