The Carmel and Fishers girls tennis teams each advanced to the semi-finals of the IHSAA state tournament on Friday.
The No. 1-ranked and defending state champion Greyhounds hosted their state quarter-final match at the Todd Witsken Tennis Center, beating No. 7 Zionsville 5-0. Carmel won all of the matches in straight sets, with Lauren Littell getting a 6-0, 6-0 victory.
Coach Bryan Hanan said he could tell that the Greyhounds would be focused even before play started, starting with the warmup.
“We’ve got some experienced girls,” said Hanan. “They know this time of the year you got to step it up and we stepped it up a little bit today and played well against a good Zionsville team.”
Meanwhile, No. 4 Fishers played its quarter-final match Friday at Center Grove. The Tigers edged out No. 9 Evansville Memorial 3-2 to reach the semi-finals.
Fishers got its wins at No. 3 singles, with Caroline Ober triumphing 6-0, 6-1. No. 1 doubles Emma Beehler and Cassie Maurer were 6-1, 6-2 winners, while No. 2 doubles Madelyn Barron and Meredith Ober took their second set 7-5, winning four of the last five games to clinch the match and the team win.
Both Carmel and Fishers will travel to Center Grove this morning to play in the state semi-finals, which start at 10 a.m. The Greyhounds play No. 5 South Bend St. Joseph, while the Tigers will take on No. 20 Delta. The winners will play for the state championship at 2 p.m.
CARMEL 5, ZIONSVILLE 0
No. 1 singles: Lauren Littell def. Mia Hayden 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 singles: Nora Perkins def. Sudhikssha Murugesan 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 singles: Elyse Nelson def. Zoe Chappell 6-1, 6-0
No. 1 doubles: Alexa Lewis and Hallie Reeves def. Natalie Black and Lucy King 6-1, 6-4
No. 2 doubles: Thea Bertolini and Ali Griffin def. Arya Patel and Brittany Witsken 6-0, 6-1
FISHERS 3, EVANSVILLE MEMORIAL 2
No. 1 singles: Ellie Myers (EM) def. Misha Briggs (F) 7-6, 6-4
No. 2 singles: Chase Boyer (EM) def. Izzy Mokra (F) 6-0, 6-0
No. 3 singles: Caroline Ober (F) def. Carson Boyer (EM) 6-0, 6-1
No. 1 doubles: Emma Beehler and Cassie Maurer (F) def. Lauren Conaughty and Edie Sandefur (EM) 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 doubles: Madelyn Barron and Meredith Ober (F) def. Sara Beckwith and Hannah Kent (EM) 6-1, 7-5