Seymour’s Claire Combs hits a backhand during her No. 3 singles match against Brownstown’s Jenna Bolte Thursday in the Seymour Sectional. Combs won to help the Owls to a 5-0 victory.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Brownstown Central’s Jenna Bolte returns a ground stroke against Seymour’s Claire Combs in the Seymour Sectional on Thursday. Combs won the match to help the Owls win 5-0.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Seymour and Scottsburg advanced to the finals of the Seymour girls tennis sectional by blanking their county rivals Thursday afternoon.
Seymour topped Brownstown Central 5-0, while Scottsburg won by the same score over Austin.
The Owls and Warriors will play today at 5 p.m. They played April 11 at Seymour and the Owls won 3-2.
Seymour head coach Brandon Davis said, “We know that they are a good team, and we just need to come out and be aggressive like we were tonight, don’t leave room for any error and start off strong so we don’t have to finish strong.”
Seymour’s Brooke Schafstall at No. 1 singles and Elise Hartung at No. 2 singles were the first two players off the courts. Schafstall defeated Brynn Burton 6-0, 6-0, and Hartung was a 6-0, 6-1 winner over Leah Pottschmidt.
“It’s always great when you can win (5-0),” Davis said. “I think everybody played well. In one and two singles, we didn’t have to approach them at all. They took care of business. They came in and did what they needed to do. Three singles did what she needed to do. Our ground strokes were good.”
Brownstown (7-9) had a different lineup Thursday than they did against the Owls on April 17 and had only one senior on the courts Thursday in Pottschmidt.
“I think we played better. We just need more experience and get better skills. We just have to work on our skills. That is something they need to work on all summer,” head coach Erik Stangland said. “Several times, we double-faulted. You can’t win matches when you’re missing all your first serves and double-faulting also. It was a lot of inexperience. I had another freshman out there trying to play varsity, and she only entered (varsity lineup) partway through the season, so that makes it difficult to recover and keep your momentum when you do have it.”
Stangland said, “We’ve got quite a few that can be challenging next year, so that can be good. All the spots are available to push. That’s what I look forward to next year, all the people pushing each other.”
Seymour sophomore Claire Combs defeated Brownstown junior Jenna Bolte 6-1, 6-4 at No. 3 singles.
Both players said this was their first sectional.
Combs said, “I was definitely getting my winning shots by hitting more toward the baseline. I think that helped me, and then rushing the net helped a lot, too.”
She said she had trouble getting her first serve in early in the match and changed her game plan.
“Once I started messing up, I realized I didn’t need to go for power. I just needed to go for consistency, and that is what really helped me win,” she said.
She said the feeling was a little different Thursday than during their season match.
“It was different. I played a different Brownstown girl this time, but other than that, it felt like a normal match. I love varsity so much. I’m happy that I’ve gotten the opportunity to do it this year, and I’m hoping I can get to do it next year and the year after.”
Bolte said she began this season playing two doubles and moved to three singles in the middle of the season.
“I’ve actually enjoyed singles a lot more than I thought I would,” she said. “I’ve come to love it a lot more than doubles. I like having all the control. My serves were hurting me pretty bad today. I don’t know what was going on, but hopefully, I can work on that going into next year. I did start a new serve this year, so that’s been a little more to adjust to. I’ve kind of gotten comfortable with it, and I hope to work on it this summer and really improve on it for next summer.”
She said playing in the sectional was a good learning experience and added, “It was really nice playing somebody that had a little bit of a higher level of experience with tennis. Claire was a tough tennis player, so it was nice to be able to play against somebody that was a little bit more challenging.”
Seymour’s No. 1 doubles pair of Jessica Hougland and Caroline Thompson topped Kaitlyn Williams and Bella Brown 6-2, 6-1, and Seymour’s Ava Sunbury and Addison Hunsley beat Genna Preston and Audrey Scarlett 6-4, 6-0 at two doubles.
“One doubles figured it out and started being aggressive at the net, and the points started to fall,” Davis said.
He added that two doubles played well in the second set.
Seymour takes a record of 13-3 into today’s match, while Scottsburg is 15-7.