By Eric Eaton
HCC CoordinatorFISHERS – Four years ago Coach Pat Slama’s Zionsville Eagles won the Hoosier Crossroads Conference Girls Tennis Championships with a squad that didn’t include a single senior.
Well three years later, the three individuals who were freshmen on that team wrapped up their HCC tennis careers having never lost the conference championship tournament!
The #5 Eagles edged runner-up #18 Hamilton Southeastern by five points, 47 to 42 to capture their fourth straight HCC Tournament on what turned out to be a cold and extremely windy day at Fishers High School on May 3.
#20 Noblesville finished third in the event with 39 points, Avon was fourth with 35 points, and Harrison rounded out the top-5 with 32 points.
Click here to view a photo gallery of pictures from the tournament! Then, make sure to check out the video player at the end of this article to view some great video highlights from both #1 singles and #1 doubles championship matches!
“For being undefeated, 9-0 in the conference, this was not indicative of it,” said Slama. “(This) goes to show you, at any particular time, anybody can win. And with the elements being what they were, it really made for a tough tournament today. My hat’s off to my girls, they did a great job. I’m very proud of them.”
Zionsville recorded two first place finishes. Junior Lauren Formulak won the championship at #3 singles for the third straight year, dispatching Hamilton Southeastern sophomore Stephanie Iden 6-0, 6-1. The Eagles #2 doubles team of senior Katie Thompson and sophomore Claire Mattison easily defeated the Hamilton Southeastern team of Holly Becker and Elise Hanuschek 6-0, 6-0 to win that title.
All totaled, Zionsville participants recorded a top-three finish in all five of the competitions.
Senior Danielle Hansen took third place at #1 singles, defeating Harrison’s Kemi Adeyemi 6-2, 6-3 in the third-place match. Fellow senior Margo Harrington lost a tough championship match to Avon’s Sami McQueen at #2 singles, losing in a points-only tiebreaker, 8-10, after having split the first two sets 6-7 (6-4), 6-2. Zionsville’s #1 doubles team of junior Eileen Dinnin and freshman Lindsey Hansen entered as the top-seed, but had to settle for third place after getting upset in the semifinals by the eventual champions Lauren Baker and Emily Samons of Noblesville 6-1, 4-6, (2-10). Dinnin and Hansen bounced back though to defeat the Westfield team of Olivia Pursell and Lauren Jones 6-4, 7-5 in the third-place match.
Here’s a recap of all five of the championship matches.
#1 SinglesThe top seed, Avon junior Christina Riley, made quick work of Hamilton Southeastern sophomore Carol Hsu 6-1, 6-1 in a title match which featured winds gusts that had to be upwards of 25 mph. Earlier in the day, in much better conditions, Riley had defeated both Courtney Ramey of Westfield and Kemi Adeyemi of Harrison 6-0, 6-0.
#2 SinglesThe #2-seed, Avon senior Sami McQueen, upset the top-seed, Harrington of Zionsville 7-6 (6-4), 2-6, (10-8) to take the title. After splitting the first two sets, the two played a points-only tiebreaker to 10, to determine the champion.
#3 SinglesThe top-seed, Formulak of Zionsville, defeated the #2-seed, Iden of Hamilton Southeastern 6-0, 6-1 to capture her third straight HCC Tournament title at #3 singles. The junior lost just three games all day in her matches against Brenda Donelly of Fishers, Katelyn Krivoshia of Noblesville, and Iden.
#1 DoublesSeeded-fifth, the Noblesville team of Baker and Samons took down both the #1-seeded Zionsville team of Dinnin and Hansen and the #2-seeded Hamilton Southeastern team of Lina Goens and Devin Strand en route to the title. Baker a senior and Samons a junior defeated Goens and Strand 6-1, 6-4 in the championship match. In the semifinals, the two rallied from a one-set to nothing deficit (1-6) to defeat Dinnin and Hansen 6-4 and then 10-2 in the points-only tiebreaker.
#2 DoublesThe number-one seeded Zionsville team of Mattison and Thompson dominated the #6-seeded Hamilton Southeastern team of Becker and Hanuschek 6-0, 6-0 to take the title. It was a surprising run to the championship match for Becker and Hanuschek though, who knocked of both a #3-seeded Harrison team and a #2-seeded Noblesville team en route to the runner-up finish.
To view all of the results from the tournament, simply
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