By RICHIE HALL
ZIONSVILLE – The Fishers girls tennis team had to be two places at once last Saturday to compete in the IHSAA girls tennis state finals.
The No. 2-ranked Tigers began their day by playing a semifinal against No. 26 Franklin Community at North Central’s Barbara Wynne Tennis Center. After Fishers won that match, the rains came.
With the weather staying rainy all day, the championship match was moved to the Pearson Tennis Center in Zionsville. The Tigers traveled west to take on No. 1 South Bend St. Joseph and gave the Huskies a battle before St. Joseph prevailed 3-2.
Fishers got both of its wins in doubles. No. 1 Cassie Maurer and Caroline Ober toughed out a three-set win over Dani Graham and Libby Yergler 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. Meanwhile, No. 2 Emma Beehler and Meredith Ober were finished in no time, beating Ella Michaels and Anna Walsh 6-0, 6-0.
In singles play, No. 1 Mischa Briggs battled before falling to Molly Bellia 6-1, 6-3; Bellia would win the Mental Attitude Award after the match. The Amalnathan sisters took the other two singles matches, with Ashi Amalnathan beating Madelyn Barron 6-0, 6-1 in the No. 2 match, while Anni Amalnathan defeated Izzy Ireland 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 3 match.
“We were undefeated all year,” said Fishers coach Dave Heffern. “That’s the first time that’s happened since I’ve been at Fishers. Great bunch of kids, five seniors that have worked hard to get where they’re at. The last three years have been the most successful in Fishers High School history.”
Fishers’ No. 3 singles Izzy Ireland won in straight sets during the Tigers’ semifinal with Franklin Community. (Richie Hall)
All four of the Tigers’ doubles players are seniors, along with No. 2 singles Barron. Briggs and Ireland are both juniors.
“You put in the time and the effort all the time and you play enough matches,” said Heffern. “It feeds off itself. They’ve earned the right to play well. The younger kids, l bring 12 to these events. They see what’s going on and they learn from it and hopefully it inspires them to play a lot more and to get more involved in the whole program.”
Maurer and Caroline Ober were undefeated for the tournament, so they will advance to the individual tournament, which takes place this weekend.
The Tigers reached the state championship match with a 4-1 win over Franklin. In singles, Briggs scored a 6-0, 6-0 shutout while Ireland toughed out a 6-3, 7-6 (5) win. Barron fell to Marnie Moore 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 2 match. Fishers’ doubles teams took care of business quickly, with Maurer and Caroline Ober winning 6-1, 6-0 and Beehler and Meredith Ober cruising to a 6-1, 6-3 win.
Fishers won a tough all-county battle with Westfield last Friday in the quarterfinals of the IHSAA girls tennis state finals at Center Grove.
The No. 2-ranked Tigers edged out the No. 16 Shamrocks 3-2. Maurer and Caroline Ober came back from a set down to win 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-3, clinching the team victory. Briggs won a close straight-set match, Beehler and Meredith Ober also picked up a straight-set win.
The Shamrocks got wins at the other two singles matches. Juliette Grilliot won in straight sets at No. 2 singles, while Isla Harvey came back from a set down to take the No. 3 singles match.
Guerin Catholic’s Kolb sisters reach state
The Guerin Catholic doubles team of sisters Katie Kolb and Anna Kolb qualified for the individual state tournament by winning the La Porte regional last Saturday.
The Kolbs dropped only one game in their two matches, sweeping Melanie Greenwood and Rachel Paul of New Prairie 6-0, 6-0 in their first match. In the championship, the Kolbs beat NorthWood’s Emery Porter and Kaydence Dumka 6-1, 6-0.
The draw for the individual doubles tournament will be released early this week.