The Seymour girls tennis team, coaching staff and other members of the tennis family pose on the Seymour High School courts Friday after defeating Scottsburg 4-1 in the sectional finals.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Seymour’s Addison Hunsley hits a backhand during her No. 2 doubles match against Scottsburg on Friday. She helped the Owls win 4-1.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Members of the Seymour girls tennis team celebrate their Seymour Sectional title Friday.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Seymour’s Ava Sunbury serves to Scottsburg’s No. 2 doubles team during the Seymour Sectional on Friday. Sunbury helped the Owls win the sectional with a 4-1 victory.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Seymour’s Addison Hunsley, left, gives advice to No. 2 doubles teammate Ava Sunbury during the Seymour Sectional finals Friday against Scottsburg. They helped the Owls win 4-1.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Seymour’s varsity girls tennis team members pose with their ribbons and the trophy after they defeated Scottsburg in the sectional championship match Friday.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Brooke Schafstall has helped the Seymour girls tennis team win three straight sectional trophies.
The third came Friday with a 4-1 victory over Scottsburg.
Schafstall put Seymour’s first point in the books with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Claire Routt at No. 1 singles.
She said all sectional titles are nice, but this sectional meant more to her than the other two since this is her senior year.
“It feels pretty good,” Schafstall said. “I would say it feels a little more special because I’m a senior. It feels nice to win again.”
Owls coach Brandon Davis said Schafstall’s win set the tone.
“Then two doubles won early,” he said. “They knew what they needed to do, and then Claire (Combs) sealed the deal for us at three singles, and that was great. She didn’t even know she won it for us. That was great for her and good for the team to keep that momentum going, and then Elise (Hartung) hit a good sweet spot giving us that 4-1 win.”
This marked Seymour’s fourth consecutive sectional title. The Owls won in 2019, and then the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They won again in 2021, 2022 and this year.
Seymour (14-3) will face the winner of the Columbus North Sectional in the Bloomington South Regional on Tuesday.
Schafstall said the Owls will need to be at the top of their game.
“We’ve just got to have all of our ducks in a row, and everything’s got to be on point that day, so we’ll just hope for the best and try our best and get through it,” she said.
This is Davis’ first sectional title as girls coach. He previously won two sectionals as Seymour’s boys coach.
He said they all feel wonderful.
“It feels just as great,” he said. “A sectional win is a great win. It was a good team effort through and through. Everybody played hard and played well, and we’ll just go do it again on Tuesday.”
Seymour’s No. 2 doubles team of Ava Sunbury and Addison Hunsley recorded a 6-3, 6-3 win over Melea Luttrell and Klara Leach, and Combs sealed the win for the Owls by defeating Leah Shuler 7-5, 6-3 at No. 3 singles.
Hartung posted Seymour’s fourth point with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Grace Routt at No. 3 singles.
Seymour’s No. 1 doubles team of Jessica Hougland and Caroline Thompson split sets with Olivia Fugate and Kira Shelhamer, losing 6-4, then winning 6-1 to set up a third set, and the Scottsburg players won 6-1 to advance in the individual tournament.
“Some days are tennis days and some aren’t, and everybody struggles and it is what it is. That’s part of it,” Davis said. “We grow and we learn, and we do better the next match.”
Hougland and Thompson are seniors, and this is their second sectional title.
In looking at the regional, Davis said, “They’re (Columbus North) a good team, but in our situation we’ve got nothing to lose, and they’ve got everything to lose, so we’ve got to go in and play as if our lives depended on it, play the best tennis we know how to play.”
The IHSAA is moving some schools into different sectionals next year. Scottsburg and Austin will be paired with Madison, Southwestern and Shawe Memorial next year, while Jennings County and Bedford North Lawrence will be in the Seymour Sectional with Trinity Lutheran and Brownstown Central.
“We’ll take on a new group and hope to do the same thing for many years to come,” Davis said.