The Centerville girls tennis team captured its second straight sectional on Saturday, May 20.
RICHMOND, Ind. – It was a repeat performance for the Centerville girls tennis team on Satuday as the Bulldogs claimed their second straight Richmond Sectional championship on the Tiernan Center Courts.
The Bulldogs defeated Tri-Eastern Conference rival Lincoln 3-2 to advance to Tuesday’s regional in the same facility.
“We didn’t play our best today, but we played well enough to win,” Centerville Head Coach Randy Ecker said. “We’ve been dealing with injuries through out the season. The girls have stepped up through out the season and do what we needed to do.”
Centerville has a school record for wins as they enter the regional with a 19-1 mark against Blue River, which defeated Tri 5-0 on Friday.
“We’ve been really solid at a lot of positions,” Ecker said. “This is what you want to be doing at this point in time. I’m proud of them.”
After Friday’s rain out, the extra day may have helped the Bulldogs, who now have seven sectional titles in their history.
“They we’re not in a very good mood,” Ecker said. “Not having to play (Friday) may have been a blessing because they seemed in good spirits this morning. We practiced at Centerville at nine o’clock and seemed up.”
The Bulldogs swept the doubles competition.
At No. 1, Lizzy Walther and Shelby Good beat Lincoln’s Kylei Klein and Lydia Bertsch 6-1, 6-3, while Katy Stewart and Morgan Guenther got past Leslie Richardson and Kami Laymon 6-4, 6-3 in the second spot.
The final and deciding match of the contest was at No. 3 singles as Centerville’s Addie Walther won 6-4, 6-2 over Ali Reece.
Lincoln’s victories came in the top two singles positions.
Jamie Buhl defeated Abby Stewart 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1. With her win, Buhl advanced to the regional as an individual.
Rachel Merida took care of Morgan Toschlog 6-4, 6-3 at No. 2.
Sectional Championship Box Score
Singles
No. 1 – Jamie Buhl (L) def. Abby Stewart (C) 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 – Rachel Merida (L) def. Morgan Toschlog (C) 6-4, 6-3
No. 3 – Addie Walther (H) def. Ali Reece (L) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 – Lizzy Walther/Shelby Good (C) def. Kylei Klein/Lydia Bertsch (L) 6-1, 6-3
No. 2 – Katy Stewart/Morgan Guenther (C) def. Leslie Richardson/Kami Laymon (L) 6-4, 6-3