Sullivan girls tennis pulls off Vigo County trifecta
May 13—Rarely does a high school near Vigo County defeat Terre Haute South, Terre Haute North and West Vigo — without a loss — in the same sport during the same season.
Northview's boys basketball squad executed that accomplishment during the 2020-21 campaign.
On Wednesday, Sullivan's girls tennis team knocked off visiting North 3-1 to complete the 2021 Vigo County trifecta and improve its school-record season mark to 19-0. That came two days after the Golden Arrows' 3-2 victory at South. In April, they downed West Vigo 4-1.
In Wednesday's battle, with four of the five matches lasting the minimum two sets, the Maylee Brown-Olivia Effner combination at No. 1 doubles won first for North. Soon afterward, Sullivan's No. 2 doubles duo of Courtney Lueking and Lexie Baker finalized its triumph.
Sophomore No. 1 singles standout Hanna Burkhart held off North's Averie Shore 6-2, 6-3 to give the home squad a 2-1 advantage. Then Annie Smith boosted her season record to 18-0 by winning at No. 3 singles to clinch the team win for the Arrows.
In the No. 2 singles clash between North's Caroline Effner and Sullivan's Paige Chickadaunce, the pair took seemingly forever to finish a 7-6 (10-8) win for Effner in the first set. With Effner leading 3-2 in the second set, the match was called by darkness with no winner declared.
"You never know the matchups until you play," said Sullivan coach Wes Kirk, previously a South assistant for 16 seasons. "We felt confident we'd get three spots today. We just didn't know where."
Without doubt, this makes Sullivan the favorite to capture next week's sectional championship at North. The Arrows last won a sectional title in girls tennis 29 years ago.
Burkhart did not provide any bulletin-board material as she praised North opponent Averie Shore for her performance Wednesday.
"She's really good," Burkhart told the Tribune-Star. "She has a hard shot. . . . But I feel like I played pretty well today and I'm excited about that."
"I respect all of the teams in our sectional," Kirk added.
Meanwhile, Lueking — one of four seniors on the Sullivan roster — said she's "really excited" about the upcoming sectional.
"Beating South [this week] was huge for us," she mentioned.
From the North perspective, coach Amanda Lubold admitted Wednesday's results felt like "a tough loss."
"It's also a testament to how good Sullivan is this year," she continued. "I think we are coming together well and peaking at the right time. The sectional this year is wide open and I think any of the four teams could win it."
The draw for the IHSAA girls tennis sectionals will take place Monday.
