NEW MARKET — Crawfordsville girls tennis had to wait a bit longer than normal to get their season underway.
The Athenians under first-year coach Cara Amundson had their first two matches of the season postponed and were left with opening up their year against county rival Southmont on Tuesday. The wait might have been worth it as there were no signs of first match jitters or nerves as the Athenians gave coach Amundson her first career victory with a 4-1 win over the Mounties.
“These girls have given me so much effort in practice,” Amundson said. “That effort really translated well out onto the court tonight. They have given each other so much confidence in practice also that all of them just were able to come out and have great matches.”
CHS got on the board with a victory at two doubles from Elyse Widmer and Mia Wagner as they defeated Kela Johnson and Courtlyn Carpenter 6-2, 6-0. Samantha Rohr who moved up from three singles a year ago to one singles defeated Hanna Long 6-4, 6-2. Harmony Taylor brought home a victory for the Athenians at No. 3 singles with a 6-1, 6-3 win, and the one doubles tandem of Cathleen McGrady and Lilly Klingbeil rounded out the wins for CHS by defeating Dori Frederick and Alexa Bradley 6-2, 6-4.
Bailey Barker was the lone winner for the Mounties picking up a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles.
“It was disappointing considering it was a county and conference opponent,” Southmont coach Rob Reimondo said. “The good news is it’s early in the season and we have a little while here to work on our game and to make adjustments. Bailey played like a senior tonight and she’s been in tough matches before in her career. I was pleased with how she played and I expect more good things from her.”
The Mounties fall to 1-1 on the season with the loss while the Athenians begin the season at 1-0. Southmont is scheduled to travel to Attica on Thursday while the focus for CHS will shift to tomorrow against Lafayette Central Catholic.
Waiting just after the Knights on Thursday will be another county rival in North Montgomery. With a win on Thursday CHS would claim the county title in just their first week of the season. Amundson isn’t ready to look ahead just yet however.
“We’re just going to tackle each day as it happens,” she said.
