Published: May 21, 2008 03:30 pm            

Lady Eagles take down WeBo for sectional title

LEBANON — Zionsville girls tennis coach Pat Slama sees the postseason tournaments as a ladder to the state finals. The Lady Eagles scaled their first big rung, Saturday, May 17, defeating Western Boone in the sectional championship at Lebanon.

They beat a 15-3 WeBo teams by the count of five matches to none, advancing to the regional tournament.

“The first one was last night against Rossville, the second will be this one against WeBo, and then we’re going to go two more at regionals, two more at semi-state, and ultimately we hope to be where we need to be,” Slama said. “The girls play it match-for-match. They don’t play a tournament — they play their opponents and that’s how they focus.”

After each member of the Zionsville squad blanked her Rossville opponent on Friday, the Eagles picked up two 6-0, 6-0 victories over the Sagamore Conference champion Stars.

In No. 1 singles, senior Danielle Hansen methodically took down WeBo sophomore Brittney Horlacher without dropping a game. Also, the Zionsville No. 1 doubles team of junior Eileen Dinnin and freshman Lindsey Hansen quickly picked up the 6-0, 6-0 win over senior Teale Rutledge and sophomore Molly Coy.

In No. 3 singles, Eagle junior Lauren Formulak had little trouble, herself, defeating junior Alexandra Watters 6-1, 6-0.

From there, however, the Lady Stars came incredibly close to taking first sets against Zionsville.

WeBo sophomore Abby Hanson took senior Margo Harrington head-on and rolled with the punches against the experienced No. 2 singles player. The players fought back-and-forth throughout the first set, as Harrington squeezed out a 7-5 win.

“(Hanson) played extremely well today, and she did everything we asked her to do,” Western Boone Head Coach Allyson Gardner said. “She just stayed in and kept fighting, and that’s what was important — just to keep up and know that mentally they could do it.”

Harrington made the right adjustments and finished the match with a 6-1 win in the second set. It was Hanson’s first loss of the 2008 season.

“(Harrington) played a tremendously talented girl,” Slama said of Abby Hanson. “Usually Margo is one of (the first players to finish her match), but this girl was strong.”

The highly-dependable No. 2 doubles teams for both programs were unwilling to budge an inch in the first set. Western Boone’s team of senior Sarah Brindle and senior Bailey Keith jumped out to a 5-4 lead in the first set before Zionsville’s team of senior Katie Thompson and sophomore Claire Mattison won the next three games for a 7-5 win. The Lady Eagles wrapped up the second set quickly, taking it 6-0.

“Today we had a couple snags,” Slama said. “My No. 2 doubles had a slow start, and they had to rescue it to get a 7-5. They turned it around and got a 6-0 in the second set, and that’s perfect because they needed to be able to self-correct.”

The match ends a superb season for Western Boone tennis. Gardner will return all three of her singles players as the Lady Stars defend their conference title in 2009, and doubles play Molly Coy will also be back.

“They have nothing to be ashamed of, coming in here and playing a fifth-ranked team. We got points off of them, and they played really well,” Gardner said. “Overall I think they had a great season. They came out fighting every time, and our goal was to win conference and then just make ourselves better. They did that, and I’m proud of all of them.”

The fifth-ranked Lady Eagles are now 17-1 on the season. The regional tournament gets started right away, as Zionsville now takes on North Montgomery, the only team to hand Western Boone a conference loss.

Regionals begin this week at West Lafayette.

zionsville 5, rossville 0

The No. 5 Lady Eagles finished the regular season playing their hearts out in a 4-1 thrashing of No. 6 Cathedral. Zionsville (16-1) had a bit less pressure in its sectional opener against 1-16 Rossville, Friday, May 16.

They defeated the Lady Hornets 5-0, and won every single game along the way.

“We had to peak to win 4-1 against a really strong (Cathedral) team,” Zionsville Head Coach Pat Slama said.

In No. 1 singles, senior Danielle Hansen picked up a 6-0, 6-0 win over Lindsey Zockman. In No. 2 singles, senior Margo Harrington defeated Sabrina Hackerd 6-0, 6-0. Zionsville junior Lauren Formuak also made short work of Patricia Murphy 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 3 singles match.

“The hardest thing they would have to do is play every point out and keep their head in the game, and I think they disciplined very well,” Slama said.

The Zionsville No. 1 doubles team of junior Eileen Dinnin and freshman Lindsey Hansen took down Danielle Byers and Shianne Holsclaw 6-0, 6-0. The No. 2 doubles team of senior Katie Thompson and sophomore Claire Mattison defeated Rena Goris and Kaitlyn Houchin 6-0, 6-0.

        

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