Two county rivals playing for the sectional title. That is what will take place after a both North Montgomery and Crawfordsville girls tennis teams were victorious in their respective sectional semi-final matches on Wednesday at CHS. The Athenians took on Parke Heritage and were winners 4-1 while the Chargers were able to sweep Clinton Prairie 5-0. The two county rivals will meet up Thursday back at CHS with the Athenians looking to defend their title and the Chargers looking for revenge from earlier in the regular season.
Chargers make quick work of Gophers
Clinton Prairie was a late addition to the normal four-team sectional at Cville. A young team with playing their first official season as a team, North Montgomery drew the Gophers and were able to best them to secure their spot in the sectional title game.
Junior Paige Hudson defeated Delaney Lee at one singles 6-4, 6-1. Fellow junior Sydney Neideffer at two singles earned a 6-2, 6-4 win over the Gophers Chloe Prevot. At three singles sophomore Abigail Allen was a winner over Adalyn Booth 6-0, 6-0. At one doubles Shayna Ratcliff and Reagan Little defeated Merissa Large and Lily Boles 6-0. 6-0 and rounding out the wins for North Montgomery was Avery Gayler and Sarika Gabhawala at two doubles with their 7-5, 6-0 win over Emerald Wallace and Sofia Moriera.
Charger coach Lori Guard has seen her team progressing all season long and was happy for her team to be able to get a sectional win under their belts.
“We played great all across the board,” Guard said of the win. “Our two doubles got down 0-5 and then came back to win. That’s very impressive and saying a lot for two sophomores out there. They showed great mental toughness and hopefully that gives them a good boost. We had some good competitive matches at one and two singles but both of them just stayed in the match and keeping the balls back.”
Way back on Apr. 13 Crawfordsville defeated the Chargers 5-0 to secure the county title. Guard knows that it will be a challenge going up against their county rivals again, but also knows that her team will come ready to play.
“We expect a tough battle,” Guard said of the championship match against the Athenians. “We’re going to have to fight for every point and be at the top of our game if we want to win. Both teams have come a long way. We know we’ll probably be the underdogs, but I’m looking forward to a tough fight and we’ll see what happens. I’m excited that two Montgomery County ”
Athenians take care of Wolves
Crawfordsville will once again be playing for a sectional title. Cville came in to the tournament as the defending sectional champions and after defeating Southmont 4-1 on Tuesday, battled Parke Heritage in the semi-finals where they were once again winners.
The only loss for the Athenians came at one singles. The Wolves Laura Hansmann defeated Cville’s Samantha Rohr in three sets 1-6, 6-2, 6-1. Besides that it was smooth sailing for CHS.
Reagan Cox was victorious at two singles 6-1, 6-2 as she defeated Jenna McVay. Emily Weliever defeated Rebekah Ayers 6-1, 6-1 at three singles. Elyse Widmer and Mia Wagner were winners at one doubles 6-1, 6-0 over Emma Patton and Hannah Thurman. Rounding out the wins for the Athenians were Ali Brown and Amy Weliver at two doubles with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Lily Roosevelt and Josie Bodine.
“This was an opponent that we didn’t see during the regular season so we didn’t quite know what to expect,” Crawfordsville coach Kara Amundson said. “Like against South on Tuesday I think some nerves may have got the best of us at the beginning, but when they calmed down and trusted their shots, things started to go our way.”
Even in the loss to Hansmann Rohr did in most people’s eyes including Amundson’s, play her best tennis of the season and that more than anything is what the Cville fans in attendance were proud of.
“That’s flat out the best I’ve seen Sam play especially in t hat first set when she won 6-1,” Amundson said of her one singles player. “Her opponent started to not make as many errors as she did, but that was great match between two great tennis players.”
Amundson also gave her thoughts on the championship match with it being an all Montgomery county final.
“It’s going to be fun and good matchup,” she said. “It’s nice playing someone that the girls are familiar with but we still have to show up and take care of business like I know they can.”
The championship match will begin at 5 pm at CHS with the winner advancing to next’s week’s Regional which is also hosted by the Athenians.
