By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – The Carmel and Fishers girls tennis team easily booked tickets for a state semifinal showdown on Friday.
Both the No. 2-ranked Greyhounds and the No. 4 Tigers won 5-0 state quarterfinal matches at Carmel’s Todd Witsken Tennis Center. Fishers only dropped two games total against Sullivan, who were making their first-ever appearance at state. The ‘Hounds only lost six games in beating No. 23 Delta.
Carmel’s Nora Perkins was a 6-0, 6-1 winner at No. 1 singles, with Elyse Nelson taking a 6-0, 6-0 match at No. 2 and Grace Kim winning 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3. In doubles, No. 1 Ali Griffin and Alexa Lewis and No. 2 Marina Duncan and Alex Widjaja all won their matches 6-2, 6-0.
“Tomorrow is going to be a tough day,” said Greyhounds coach Dan Brunette. Three of the top four teams will be playing in the state semifinals this morning at Center Grove. Along with Carmel and Fishers, No. 1 South Bend St. Joseph will take on No. 8 Franklin Community.
In quarterfinal matches played Friday at Center Grove, St. Joseph beat No. 3 Jasper 3-2, while the Grizzly Cubs defeated No. 20 Castle 4-1. Both semifinals start at 10 a.m.
“That’s how you want it scripted,” said Brunette. “It’s going to be a battle, hot, mid-90s, 10 degrees hotter on the court. We’re just getting ready for that.”
The Tigers won 6-0, 6-0 in three flights, with No. 1 singles Mischa Briggs, No. 2 singles Izzy Mokra and No. 2 doubles Maddie Barron and Meredith Ober all getting shutouts. No. 3 singles Caroline Ober and No. 1 doubles Emma Beehler and Cassie Maurer won their matches 6-1, 6-0.
Fishers No. 2 singles Izzy Mokra won her match 6-0, 6-0. (Richie Hall)
Fishers coach Dave Heffern said his team has been “practicing hard all year for this and tomorrow’s the day we get to play Carmel in our re-match from last year’s state finals. Even though it’s a semifinal, we’re ready to rock and I know they are too.”
The semifinal winners advance to the state championship match, which takes place at 2 p.m., also at Center Grove.