Ninth-ranked Center Grove wanted to use the early evening hours of Monday finishing what it started two days earlier.
The host Trojans did that by defeating Franklin, 4-1, in the championship match of the Johnson County girls tennis tournament. Play had been suspended Saturday morning at Whiteland due to the rain making the courts too slick.
Senior Ashlee Fisk, Center Grove’s No. 1 singles player who downed freshman Rylie Wilkison 6-0, 6-0, said picking up where she left off more than 48 hours earlier is more difficult than it sounds or appears.
“I was up 6-0, and then we were at deuce in the first game (Saturday),” Fisk said. “It honestly is tough, especially when you have already started a game. I think for everybody it’s hard when you have that delay between matches to just keep that focus for the next day.”
It didn’t seem to be an issue for the Trojans, who captured the other two singles matches as well.
Deepthi Shankar, one of two ninth-graders in the Center Grove lineup, defeated the Grizzly Cubs’ Emma Williams, 6-1, 6-2, at the No. 3 spot; senior Sonya Vyas went to a tiebreaker to get past Franklin’s Ailyn Hendricks, 6-1, 6-7 (7-4), 10-8.
Center Grove’s match-clinching third point actually came at No. 2 doubles, where junior Hudson Gilstorf and freshman Lauren Dick scored a 6-4, 6-2 victory against freshman Emma Sappenfield and junior Haley Haldeman.
The Trojans’ duo held a 2-0 advantage in the opening set when play was stopped on Saturday.
“You definitely have to think that every game it’s 0-0. You can’t get ahead of yourself that you’re winning,” Gilstorf said. “I’ve thought about it, so over time with experience, I’ve learned how to do it.”
Franklin picked up its point at No. 1 doubles as senior Haylie Rayl and her sister Chelsie, a freshman, defeated Center Grove’s pairing of seniors Sapna Vyas and Sydney Plowman, 7-5, 6-3.
Grizzly Cubs coach Rusty Hughes was pleased with the effort, but knows there is work to be done for his squad to be at the top of its game when the postseason begins on May 19.
“It was a really good match. We expected tight matches in certain places, so I’m sure Center Grove will feel the same way as we do, that we all have something to work on in the next few weeks,” Hughes said. “Our goal is to be peaking at the right time.”
Center Grove (7-2) returns to the courts this afternoon when it plays at top-ranked Park Tudor. The Grizzly Cubs (6-2) are back at home for a match against Columbus East.
