Greencastle tennis falls to tough Owen Valley squad, 4-1

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Greencastle's girls' tennis team mixed-up the line-up Wednesday night as the Tiger Cubs took on Owen Valley.

While the shake-up put new faces in new places, the result was a 4-1 win for the Patriots.

Haylie Romer was the sole winner for Greencastle on the evening, winning in No. 3 singles over Elizabeth Coffin 6-3 and 7-3.

No. 1 singles player Katie Farris started off very well, taking the opening set 6-1 over Madeline Sago and was leading in the second set before the wheels came off as Sago rallied to win sets two and three 4-6 and 0-6.

Brooke Buckner, normally in doubles, competed in the No. 2 singles spot, losing to Erin Truax 2-6 and 3-6 while the No. 2 doubles squad of Carlie Harlan and Kayla Chadd lost 0-6 and 2-6 to the team of Jocelyn McKay and Victoria Byerly.

In the match of the contest, Greencastle No. 1 duo Nicole Boyle and Harriet Watson were beaten in three sets by Anita Thompson and Shantrelle Powel of Owen Valley 6-1, 4-6 and 4-6.

The Tiger Cubs also competed Monday against West Vigo, notching a 3-2 win over the Vikings. In particular, No. 2 singles player Katie Burns, normally a JV squad player called up due to injuries, provided a critical win 6-2 and 6-1 over Sydney Brown that swung the meet in the Tiger Cubs' favor.

Greencastle head coach Sally Martin said she wanted to take a look at her players playing in roles they might not have been used to and in positions that they hadn't before.

"We mixed up our varsity line-up to let some of the players have a look at the whole court and having them see that they can cover the court by themselves. This won't be our sectional line-up.," Martin said.

Greencastle travels to Frankfort Saturday for the Hot Dog Invitational and Martin wants to see some of the work in practice put in to play.

"I want to see the competitiveness pick up. I want to see them start applying some of the technical things that they've learned and not back away from that in competition. You can get it in practice, but competition is another thing," Martin said.

"They have to step it up, use it and venture out of their safety zone. Don't push the ball, stroke the ball."

Featuring the likes of Southmont, Pike, McCutcheon, Muncie Burris and Noblesville, as well as the hosts, the tournament will be a great test for the Tiger Cubs squad.

"It's a good tournament, I'm glad that we got in it. We're trying to build the schedule to be as heavy as we possibly can, which is good for them and good for their future."

At Greencastle

Owen Valley 4, Greencastle 1

Singles

No. 1 -- Sago (OV) d. Farris (G) 1-6, 6-4, 6-0

No. 2 -- Truax (OV) d. Buckner (G) 6-2, 6-3

No. 3 -- Romer (G) d. Coffin (OV) 6-3, 7-3

Doubles

No. 1 -- Thompson/Powel (OV) d. Boyle/Watson (G) 1-6, 6-4, 6-4

No. 2 -- McKay/Byerly (OV) d. Harlan/Chadd (G) 6-0, 6-2