By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – The Carmel girls tennis team hit a milestone on Friday.
The No. 1-ranked Greyhounds won their 30th consecutive sectional championship, winning 5-0 over No. 8 Westfield at the Todd Witsken Tennis Center. With such a long streak, it would seem routine for Carmel to win the sectional every year at this point, but Greyhounds coach Bryan Hanan knows how important it is – “this is still a big accomplishment,” he said.
“There’s a lot of high school teams that would work really hard, and some of them have never won a sectional before,” said Hanan. “So we try to instill in them, enjoy every moment, enjoy every step, enjoy the journey. This is the best part of the season.”
Carmel won four of the five matches in straight sets. Senior Lauren Littell took the No. 1 singles match 6-0, 6-2; Littell was a state doubles champion for the Greyhounds as a freshman. Nora Perkins was the winner at No. 2 singles 6-1, 6-1, and Carmel’s doubles teams also picked up straight-set victories.
The No. 3 singles match was a battle of freshmen between the Shamrocks’ Addi Kooi and the Greyhounds’ Marina Duncan. Kooi won the first set 6-3, then Duncan came back to win the second set 6-1. Duncan then won a third-set super tiebreak 10-5.
“I thought we played really well,” said Hanan. “They’re ranked eighth in the state for a reason. “They’re a good team. I’ve seen some of the results this year. They’ve had some close matches with some really good teams, they’ve beaten some really good teams and they’re competitive.”
“I think we played really well today,” said Westfield coach Trudy Coler. “We got games on every court and the girls worked really hard and played well, on a really windy day.”
Westfield finished its season with a 14-4 record. This was the first time that the Shamrocks girls team had ranked in the top 10, and Coler called it a “very good season.”
“We’ve held that No. 8 spot all season, so I’ve been really proud about them going out and playing the tough teams and really playing the teams well and taking home the wins.”
Carmel will now play in the Kokomo regional, where it takes on Twin Lakes in the Tuesday semi-finals. The Greyhounds have now won 38 sectional titles overall, placing them in a tie for second in IHSAA history with Marion. Munster remains the top team, as the Mustangs claimed their 46th sectional title Friday at the Highland sectional.
CARMEL 5, WESTFIELD 0
No. 1 singles: Lauren Littell def. Isabella Norris 6-0, 6-2
No. 2 singles: Nora Perkins def. Alana Raymond 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 singles: Marina Duncan def. Addi Kooi 3-6, 6-1, 10-5
No. 1 doubles: Alexa Lewis and Hallie Reeves def. Lauren Hammond and Olivia Krauss 6-0, 6-2
No. 2 doubles: Thea Bertolini and Alicia Griffin def. Brooke Rodgers and Chloe Carlson 6-3, 6-2
Fishers defended its sectional title on Friday, as the No. 4-ranked Tigers edged out No. 10 Hamilton Southeastern 3-2 at the Fishers courts.
The Tigers won all three singles matches in straight sets. The Royals took both doubles matches in close contests. The No. 1 team of Misha Bukkasagaram and Emily Orme won 6-2, 7-6 (8), which means they will advance to the IHSAA doubles tournament, beginning next week.
Fishers has now won four sectional titles in program history. The Tigers will play in the semi-finals of the Lawrence North regional on Tuesday.
FISHERS 3, HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 2
No. 1 singles: Mischa Briggs (F) def. Taylor Wolf (HSE) 6-1, 6-0
No. 2 singles: Izzy Mokra (F) def. Emma Bieberich (HSE) 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 singles: Caroline Ober (F) def. Meghan Slaninka (HSE) 6-0, 6-0
No. 1 doubles: Misha Bukkasagaram and Emily Orme (HSE) def. Cassandra Maurer and Emma Beehler (F) 6-2, 7-6 (8)
No. 2 doubles: Kaylee Etheredge and Novelle Lee (HSE) def. Meredith Ober and Madelyn Barron (F) 7-5, 1-6, 6-4