HHC TENNIS: Highlanders win first title since 2008

By MIKE HUTSELL
Mike.Hutsell@newsandtribune.com

May 13, 2008 12:22 am

— NEW ALBANY — A run of frustration finally ended for Floyd Central on Monday as the Highlanders claimed the 2008 Hoosier Hills Conference Tournament girls’ tennis championship.
The satisfaction of the Highlanders’ victory simply meant frustration for New Albany.
The Highlanders won three matches in straight sets and saw their No. 1 singles player rally from an early hole as they posted a 4-1 win over the Bulldogs to win their first conference crown since 2005.
“We had a group of seniors here that wanted to win a conference crown on their own,” said Highlander coach Rick Miller. “We won one when they were freshmen, but the past two years we had some tough losses in this tourney. They set out at the start of the year to get this done.”
Floyd swept two doubles spots in straight sets and also scored a similar victory at No. 3 singles.
Emma LaDuke and Kayla Prusinski, who Miller called a potential all-state doubles tandem a week ago in a win over Providence, beat Caitlin Tretter and Sarah Nale at the No. 1 spot, 6-3, 6-2. The Highlanders’ Alyssa Botkins and Ann Hunt won the other doubles spot 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 over Kaitlyn Focken and Diedre Fetz.
In singles, Floyd’s Jessica VanWinkle toppled Emory Jones, 6-3, 6-2. The final victory of the day for the Highlanders came from No. 1 singles player Kelsey Wisman. She managed to rally and post a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 win over Kylia Sullivan.
“Early, I don’t feel like we played particularly well,” said Miller. “I don’t think our serve was particularly good early on. New Albany grabbed a set at one singles. Our two doubles team got down in the first set.
“Once we settled in and hit a few shots, we took some pressure off ourselves and played an nice match.”
The loss was particularly difficult for New Albany, which felt good about its chances entering the match after falling in the regular-season matchup between the teams, 3-2.
“We felt we had a very good chance coming in and for whatever reason it didn’t translate into our performance,” said New Albany coach Bob Dusch. “It was almost like the girls saw that ‘FC’ on their uniforms and gave up before it got started.
“I told them that after the match because it’s frustrating. We felt we had a realistic shot at beating them based on how we performed the first time, and we didn’t match that effort.”
Dusch’s club received a victory at No. 2 singles by Kylie Crecelius, who rolled to a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Chelsea Burch.
“Kylie, she really came out and took care of her opponent,” said Dusch. “She rolled through quickly and was aggressive through the match. Our two doubles team lost a tiebreaker and the first set and that seemed to carry over. Our No. 1 singles won a set, but then I think she looked down and saw that we were losing and she let that affect her. She knows she could have played better in those final two sets.”
Floyd Central will host its own sectional later this week. New Albany will face Lanesville in the semifinals of its sectional at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

HOOSIER HILLS CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
CHAMPIONSHIP
Floyd Central 4, New Albany 1
Singles — Wisman (F) d. Sullivan 4-6, 6-2, 6-0; Crecelius (N) d. Burch 6-0, 6-3; VanWinkle (F) d. Jones 6-3, 6-2.
Doubles — LaDuke-Prusinski (F) d. Tretter-Nale 6-3, 6-2; Botkins-Hunt (F) d. Fetz-Focken 7-6 (8-6), 6-1.

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