Seymour senior Jessica Hougland concentrates on the ball despite the strong wind during Thursday’s match against Brownstown Central. She helped the Owls win 5-0.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Brownstown Central sophomore Bella Brown hits a backhand during No. 1 doubles match against Seymour Thursday afternoon. Brown and Kaitlyn Williams lost in straight sets.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Seymour senior Caroline Thompson hits a backhand during her No. 1 doubles match against Brownstown Central Thursday. Thompson and Jessica Hougland won their match 6-0, 6-1.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Brownstown Central sophomore Kaitlyn Williams hits a two-hand backhand during doubles match at Seymour Thursday afternoon. The Braves lost to the Owls 5-0.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Coach Erik Stangland said going into Thursday’s tennis match at Seymour, he knew it would be a tough match for his Brownstown Central team.
The Owls were at the top of their game from the start and blanked the Braves 5-0, winning all five points in straight sets.
“We knew they were a talented team coming in,” Stangland said. “I told the girls it doesn’t matter what the score is. I just want to know that they’ve played as hard as they could, and tried to use what we’ve been practicing.”
“It was rough. They went back to bad habits, but we got some points that the girls were surprised that they were able to get a couple games, Stangland said. “That was an improvement and that was a surprise. We’ve got a lot of catching up to compete with Seymour in the future. The girls are just going to have to decide they want to work that hard over the summer to try and catch up.”
Owls head coach Brandon Davis said he wanted his team to take advantage of their experience and dominate from the start.
“They played well, they knew what they were doing,” Davis said. “They enjoy what they do and they’re good at what they do, and that showed tonight.”
Seymour is 8-1 and Davis said he likes where the Owls are on the progress chart.
“There is always room for improvement, and the girls know that, and that’s good. You have to know that in order for growth to happen. There’s lots of things to work on,” he said. “We’ve got kind of a slow week next week, but the week after we take on some heavy-hitter opponents with Providence and Franklin Community. They’re good teams and we’re ready for that, and we want to see what we can do against them, and were’ looking forward to showcasing what we’re able to do.”
No. 1 singles was matchup of two seniors, and Seymour’s Brooke Schafstall blanked Leah Pottschmidt 6-0, 6-0. Pottschmidt is the only senior on the Brownstown roster.
Elise Hartung was a 6-0, 6-0 winner over Brynn Burton at two singles, and Claire Combs topped Avery Harrison 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3 singles.
Seymour’s Jessica Hougland and Caroline Thompson defeated Kaitlyn Williams and Bella Brown 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 doubles, and Owls Addison Hensley and Ava Sunbury won 6-0, 6-1 over Jenna Bolte and Audrey Scarlett at two doubles.
Hougland and Thompson said they just began playing together in the Scottsburg match a week ago, and Thursday’s win gave them a record of 7-0. Hougland was playing No. 3 singles at the start of this season.
Thompson said, “You definitely need communication, and being able to trust your partner and get shots that you know you shouldn’t take, and your partner has a better shot at. I definitely like to play up, and I play on the right side.”
Hougland said, “I like that I can count on somebody else to cover what I can’t get and have somebody help get me out of my head. Practice helps a lot to get a feel of each other and how we play together, and how different parts the other person has and key to help us move and work better on the court .”
Thompson said, “I think it’s going to take us to really trust each other and not take shots that you know the other person has, and not step in front of them and take their shots. This was probably the windiest day we’ve had to match in. Whenever it’s windy like this we can’t really lob, which is what Jessica and I really like to do, so we really had to focus on getting our ground strokes in, and not rely so much on the lob.”
Hougland said, “We kept it lower and we focused more on placements instead of just trying to get it up where they couldn’t reach it and trying to split them so they had a harder time getting it and recovering. I definitely think we need to work hard in practice and just keep pushing each other to get better and better each day.”
Seymour won seven of the eight junior varsity matches.
Singles winners for the Owls were Marlo Cornn 8-1, and Ashley Clemente won two matches, both by scores of 6-0.
In doubles, Tori Fee and Chantal Wilson won two matches both by scores of 6-1, Emma Woodard and Macy Pifer won 6-0, and Haley Heckman and Kylee Cooper won 6-0.
Alexis Manns picked up Brownstown’s only win 6-5 at No. 1 JV singles.
Seymour will play at Brown County Tuesday, and Brownstown, 3-5, will travel to Scottsburg Tuesday.