Franklin’s Chelsie Rayl returns the ball during her No. 2 singles match against Center Grove on Tuesday.
Rob Baker | For the Daily Journal
Franklin girls tennis coach Rusty Hughes’ team was up for its toughest challenge of the season.
“I thought we played well,” Hughes said. “Center Grove is a really good team, so it was a good match for us to play as a team. They are the best team we’ve played so far this year.”
The No. 7 Grizzly Cubs improved to 6-0 with a 5-0 victory at No. 10 Center Grove Tuesday.
The Grizzly Cubs won the first four matches in straight sets. At No. 3 singles, Center Grove’s Sloane Small captured the opening set 6-3 over Emma Williams, but the long set took its toll. Williams was leading 3-0 in the second set when Small had to retire because of leg cramps.
At No. 1 singles, Franklin’s Rylie Wilkison topped Lauren Dick 6-1, 6-3.
“I think we’ve all stepped up and so has (Center Grove),” Wilkison said. “We all worked hard in the offseason and came back and are going to play as hard as we can.”
Wilkison couldn’t pinpoint where she has made the most improvement this season.
“I’ve been working on everything,” she said.
She said that includes her mental game as well as her physical game.
“I want to keep on working hard and play point by point,” said Wilkison, a junior who was 23-1 last season.
Franklin’s No. 2 singles player Chelsie Rayl dropped just three games, all in the first set, against Val Arriz.
The No. 1 doubles team Ailyn Hendricks and Marnie Moore beat Ava Beecher and Aliyeh Boyer 6-1, 6-2. At No. 2 doubles, Kate Pinnick and Kennedy Urban topped Peri Small and Anna Runkle 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).
The Trojans’ record dropped to 6-4.
“I saw some good tennis,” Trojans coach Debby Burton said of her team. “From where we started at the beginning of the season, we’re improving. There was good movement on the doubles teams. We’ll go back and take a look at our lineup and make some tough decisions. They’re a talented team and we knew we had an uphill battle.”
Burton said the goal will be to get another shot against Franklin in the sectional.
Franklin reached the semistate last year before losing to Oldenburg Academy. The Grizzly Cubs only lost one player at No. 1 doubles from that squad; Moore, a freshman, replaced her.
“Our goal is to go that far, but we’re not looking past Center Grove in the sectional,” Hughes said. “We have to play well to beat Center Grove.”
Hughes said the team has a break from competition with prom coming up this weekend.
“We’ll practice a little bit, but other than that we don’t play until next week,” Hughes said.
