For Franklin senior Ailyn Hendricks, the feeling of reaching the state semifinals is simply amazing.
“It knew we were going to be strong this year, but I couldn’t tell you we would be this strong,” she said. “It feels so good to be on this team. I’ll definitely be back next year to support them because I know they’ll do great another year. I love this team.”
The No. 8 Grizzly Cubs notched a 4-1 victory over No. 20 Castle during their IHSAA state quarterfinal on Friday at Center Grove.
‘We came out and played pretty well at most of the positions,” Grizzly Cubs coach Rusty Hughes said. “We came out and tried to take control of the match early.”
Franklin (27-0) will face No. 1 South Bend St. Joseph (18-3) in a semifinal at 10 a.m. today, also at Center Grove. The Indians advanced with a 3-2 decision over No. 3 Jasper in the other quarterfinal. Today’s other semifinal will feature No. 2 Carmel (23-2) against No. 4 Fishers (20-2), with the championship match set for 2 p.m.
“They look really talented,” Hughes said of St. Joe. “They’re No. 1 in the state for a reason. We’ll have our hands full and we’ll have to come out and compete like we’ve been doing all year. All we have control over is playing well.”
Franklin junior Chelsie Rayl rallied to beat Reagan Clay 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 at No. 2 singles.
“I definitely picked it up in the second set,” Rayl said. “I didn’t start my best but I thought back to my last match (against Park Tudor). … I knew I could come back from it and I kept a positive mindset the whole time. The second set I started playing better and after I took that set, then in the third set I had the momentum for sure.”
Rayl said she didn’t know until after Franklin edged Park Tudor 3-2 in the semistate that Franklin had never advanced to state before. Now the Grizzly Cubs seek to keep the best season in program history going against St. Joseph.
“It’s definitely the best team we’ve ever played, so it’s going to be a whole different level of tennis,” Rayl said.
Junior Rylie Wilkison rebounded from her first loss of the season in the semistate to cruise past Castle’s Ciera Mardis 6-0, 6-1.
The No. 2 doubles team of junior Kennedy Urban and sophomore Kathryn Pinnick remained unbeaten by topping Nina Madadi and Claire Renschler 6-2, 6-2.
The Grizzly Cubs’ No. 1 doubles team of Hendricks and freshman Marnie Moore topped Elle Blessinger and Emma Watson 6-3, 6-4.
“Both the doubles teams have set the pace for our team along with Rylie,” Hughes said. “Our whole team has stepped up the whole year. One day it might be one person.and the next it might be a different position. That’s what a good team does.”
Hendricks said she and Moore struggled a little in their match.
“It wasn’t the best play for either of us,” Hendricks said. “But we swung through our shots, took some pace off and did what we needed to do to close out.”
Franklin dropped its only point in the longest match of the day as Jaila Cosby outlasted senior Emma Williams 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-5 at No. 3 singles. It was just Williams’ second loss of the season.
“Emma has had a tremendous career,” Hughes said. “She has more singles wins than anyone in Franklin history and she missed a season when COVID (canceled the 2020 season).”
Castle finished with an 18-4 record.
