VEEDERSBURG — The Fountain Central Mustang tennis team knew they’d have an uphill battle if they wanted to capture the sectional championship against a familiar foe in the Covington Trojans on Friday.
In the end the Trojans were too much for the Mustangs as they were crowned sectional champions with a 4-1 win.
“With as often as we’ve seen them this year, this is the best that I’ve seen them (Covington) play,” Fountain Central coach David Kight said. “There’s a gap between where they’re at and where we are at right now and it shows out on the court. It was a tough day for us, and Covington is just a really tough team to beat.”
Angela Gonzalez picked up the lone win for the Mustangs at three singles with a 6-0, 6-3 win. Lillie Fishero fell at one singles to Grace Wright 6-2, 6-1. Haley Webb was defeated by Nai’a Pettit at two singles 6-4, 6-4. At one doubles Paige Scheurich and Emily Jiminez fell 6-2, 6-2 to Karsyn Engle and Emma Taylor. At two doubles the duo of Tyler Bowling and Marylee Muniz was defeated 6-1, 6-2 by Daisy Goeppner and Cora Reynolds.
Two season ago, the Mustangs only picked up four wins. They end this season with a record of 10-5 and Kight saw the improvement in his team from match to match.
“There was a point in the season where our expectations changed from just being competitive, to expecting to win,” Kight said. “That’s a credit to how far they’ve come this season, but we still do have a ways to go. We come to play for conference and sectional championships and right now that runs through Covington. I’m pleased where we ended right now but the work doesn’t stop now and it’ll be up to them to accept the challenge to get better. If we improve as much as we did from two years ago to now then I’ll really like our chances.”
The Mustangs will graduate two seniors in Bowling and Scheurich, both who have been key players in turning the program around and Kight took some time to talk about the impact both of them have made in their four seasons with the team.
“Paige will end her career playing at the highest level that I’ve seen her play during her four years,” he said. “She does everything you really ask for as a coach. With Tyler, we wouldn’t have had the season we had if she didn’t decide to play and I couldn’t have asked much more from her.”
The Trojans will move on to face Crawfordsville in the regional semi-final on Tuesday at Crawfordsville High School. Covington coach Terry Field was happy with the way his team continued to play at an elite level.
“We knew Fountain Central was going to be a tough match,” he said. “They’ve gotten better and better throughout the year but so have we. Playing Crawfordsville will be another tough match but we’re just going to be happy to be there. I’m just happy that our girls once again get to experience winning a sectional.”
