Crawfordsville girls tennis began the 2023 post-season coming in looking to defend their sectional title from a year ago. That title defense began on Tuesday against a very familiar opponent. Cville took on county rival Southmont in the opening round of the IHSAA Girls Sectional Tournament at Crawfordsville High School. CHS had very little trouble dispatching their county rivals for a second time this season as the Athenians were winners 4-1.
The four winners for the Athenians came at one singles with Sam Rohr defeating Hanna Long 6-1, 6-1. Emily Weliver defeated Kela Johnson 6-3, 6-2 at three singles. Both doubles teams were winners for CHS with Elyse Widmer and Mia Wagner taking care of Southmont’s Courtlyn Carpenter and Olivia Surface at one doubles 6-2, 6-0. Ali Brown and Amy Weliever defeated Haylee Hall and Jozee Jones 6-0, 6-4.
The lone win for the Mounties came at two singles. Marley Jones was able to defeat Reagan Cox 6-3, 6-4.
“I think the girls might have been a little nervous at the beginning but were able to settle in nicely,” Crawfordsville coach Kara Amundson said. “It always helps being able to play on your home court and once some of them saw their teammates having success, that was really what got them all going.”
Southmont coach Rob Reimondo knew that in order to beat their county rivals and avenge the earlier regular season loss that his team would have to play almost flawlessly. In the end he tipped his hat to the Athenians along with crediting Jones for her play in the win.
“We knew we’d have to bring our best game to beat Crawfordsville,” he said. “Crawfordsville has had a strong season and are a very good team. We’re looking forward to being more competitive with them next year. Marley played a great match and she was able to overwhelm her opponent at times. I was proud of the way that she played her game and dictated the tempo. When you play your game in tennis, you put yourself in a good position to win.”
There is a bright spot for the Mounties going into next season. Reimondo will return every single player from this year’s team as he has no seniors. That is something he is hanging his hat on as the off-season for Southmont begins.
“We’re a young team and that’s something that’s exciting for us to build on,” Reimondo said. “While it would have been nice to prevail against a county rival in the sectional, the silver lining is that we’ll be fully loaded for next year with all of our girls back. Hopefully with that we’ll be able to turn things around.”
Meanwhile for the Athenians they will be back at home on Wednesday for round two of the sectional where they’ll take on the Parke Heritage Wolves with a spot in the sectional championship game on the line. Amundson, as she has all season with her team, is taking each match as they come.
“It all comes down the this time of the year because we do know that it’s win or go home,” she said. “We just have to put it all out there knowing that any match could be our last. We’re really fortunate to being playing at home and having a good confidence about ourselves.”
Along with Crawfordsville taking on Parke Heritage, North Montgomery will also take on Clinton Prairie in the other semi-final. The two winners of those matches will play Thursday back at Crawfordsville for the sectional title.
The action will get underway at Crawfordsville on Wednesday at 5 pm.
