PREP GIRLS TENNIS: Fairfield, Westview, Angola perfect on night one of NECC tourney
May 14—LAGRANGE — The Fairfield and Westview girls tennis teams played so quickly Thursday that you would've thought they had dinner reservations afterwards.
Both the Falcons and Warriors won at all five positions in the first day of the Northeast Corner Conference tournament at Lakeland High School in LaGrange. Neither team had a player or doubles tandem drop a set as well, and barely any games were lost between the two as well.
Fairfield, the regular season NECC champions with an 8-0 conference record, lost a combined four games across their five matches. No. 1 singles Addison Mast won 6-0, 6-0, and the rest of her teammates were 6-1, 6-0 winners.
"If you're going to win (the tournament), you're probably going to have to win all of your first round matches," Fairfield coach Mike Filbrun said. "All five spots played well. Like I said earlier (in the season), a strength of this team is its depth. All five positions are capable of playing well and picking up big wins, and all five did (Thursday)."
Meanwhile, Westview lost a combined eight games across their five victories. They had one 6-0, 6-0 win as well from the No. 2 doubles team of senior Rochelle Miller and junior Lillian Eash.
"At times during the season, they've played really, really well," said Westview coach Carrie Clark about her No. 2 doubles tandem. "And at times, they've really struggled. So, (Wednesday) night, we just had a conversation about what it means to be on varsity and what it means to play to your best, and they turned it on (Thursday). I'm super, super proud of them."
Fairfield started the week with a 4-1 victory over Angola, which clinched the regular season title for the Falcons. Both teams had been 7-0 in conference matches heading into it, so it was a big-time win for Fairfield over the Hornets.
Angola also started 5-0 on the day, meaning the top three teams from the regular season in the NECC will have all five positions playing in semifinal matches when the tournament resumes Saturday at West Noble High School.
Each bracket will feature at least one head-to-head matchup amongst the three schools. Westview is facing Angola players at No. 1 singles, No. 2 singles and No. 2 doubles, Westview is facing Fairfield at No. 3 singles and Fairfield is facing Angola at No. 1 doubles.
Even with sectionals beginning next week, Filbrun said his team is focused on the task at hand.
"It's very cliché to say it's one step at a time, but that really is it," Filbrun said. "This counts; the conference tournament counts for something. We're focused on trying to do our best in the event because this is a big deal. This is something we really want to get."
While coach Clark would love to see her team defend their NECC Tournament crown, she admits she's started preparing her team for a potential match against East Noble in next week's sectional.
"At this point, we are prepping for East Noble in sectionals," Clark said. "That's a lot of our focus in practice. We know what we have to do to beat them, and we're practicing that. And (Thursday), we did what we will need to do (to beat East Noble). So, I'm just really proud of their focus."
OTHER SCHOOLS COMPETING
Lakeland advanced one player to the winner's bracket, as junior Brooklynn Olinger advanced in the No. 3 singles bracket with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 win over Prairie Heights' Kylee Leland.
Fremont advanced two players, while Prairie Heights and Central Noble also sent a player to the semifinals. Both West Noble and Churubusco went winless on the day, with the Chargers dropping four matches and the Eagles two.
Semifinal matches will begin the action at 9 a.m. Saturday at West Noble High School. Consolation matches will then take place before championship matches close out the evening.
------
2021 NECC Girls Tennis Championships — first round results
Note: All semifinal and championship matches in both the winner and consolation bracket matches are Saturday at West Noble High School. Consolation matches are one set, first to eight games.
No. 1 singles: Addison Mast (FF) def. Avery Kruger (WN), 6-0, 6-0; Rachel Imhof (CN) def. Ashley Stroop (FR), 6-0, 6-1; Paige Riegsecker (WV) def. Emma Leggett (PH), 6-1, 6-1; Elina Locane (AN) def. Elizabeth Jennings (LL), 6-0, 6-1
* Winner's bracket: Mast vs. Imhoff; Riegsecker vs. Locane
* Consolation bracket: Kruger vs. Stroop; Leggett vs. Jennings
No. 2 singles: Faith Bontrager (FF) def. Alea Hoover (CN), 6-1, 6-0; Katie Eash (PH) def. Katey Arble (FR), 6-3, 7-5; Madeline Stults (WV) def. Lilly Schackow (LL), 6-0, 6-2; Ellie Aldred (AN) def. Tara Gross (WN), 6-3, 6-0
* Winner's bracket: Bontrager vs. Eash; Stults vs. Aldred
* Consolation bracket: Hoover vs. Arble; Schackow vs. Gross
No. 3 singles: Brea Harris (AN) def. Kaylynn Boggess (CH), 6-0, 6-0; Brooklynn Olinger (LL) def. Kylee Leland (PH), 7-6 (7-2), 6-2; Nicole Miller (WV) def. Chloe Hilvers (FR), 6-0, 6-1; Elyse Yoder (FF) def. Isabella Bartlett (WN), 6-1, 6-0
* Winner's bracket: Harris vs. Olinger; Miller vs. Yoder
* Consolation bracket: Boggess vs. Leland; Hilvers vs. Bartlett
No. 1 doubles: Hallie Mast and Ella Clark (WV) def. Laura Eicher and Amelia Trump (LL), 6-2, 6-1; Sage Stroh and Emma Arnos (FR) def. Macie Betke and Samarah Orr (PH), 6-3, 6-1; Kaitlyn Kaufman and Allie Christman (AN) def. Naomi Leffers and Lydia Replogle (CN), 6-4, 2-6, 6-0; Chloe Yoder and Iris Miller (FF) def. Angel Pena and Jaki Macias-Padilla (WN), 6-0, 6-1
* Winner's bracket: Mast/Clark vs. Stroh/Arnos; Kaufman/Christman vs. Yoder/Miller
* Consolation bracket: Eicher/Trump vs. Betke/Orr; Leffers/Replogle vs. Pena/Macias-Padilla
No. 2 doubles: Paige Simmons/Krystal Yoder (FF) def. Allissa Powell/Jalynn Skinner (CH), 6-1, 6-0; Brook Landis and Ayrianne Gaskill (FR) def. Mandy Armstrong and Katie Rheinheimer (PH), 6-4, 6-1; Lillian Eash and Rochelle Miller (WV) def. Jacelyn Hawk and Natalie Moore (CN), 6-0, 6-0; McKenna Powers and Maren Fifer (AN) def. Lilly Pettit and Jeyda Brim (LL), 6-2, 6-0.
* Winner's bracket: Simmons/Yoder vs. Landis/Gaskill; Eash/Miller vs. Powers/Fifer
* Consolation bracket: Powell/Skinner vs. Armstrong/Rheinheimer; Hawk/Moore vs. Pettit/Brim
