STAYING ALIVE

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While their team wouldn’t make it to the semifinals of the Seymour Sectional, Brownstown Central’s No. 1 doubles knew they could stay alive in the postseason with a win.

Braves freshman Bridget Hall and senior Jordan Trowbridge battled with Austin’s Lilly Humphries and Skyler Coomer on Wednesday at Seymour’s courts.

Brownstown Central would emerge victorious with a 7-6 (5), 6-2 win.

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Hall and Trowbridge went up 5-4 before Austin forced the tiebreaker.

It took all that the two had to come away with a 7-5 tiebreaker win.

“Jordan started playing better at the net and Bridget played better in the back court,” Braves coach Erik Stangland said.

“That was the difference. Jordan had some nice angles at the net and Bridget hit some line shots.”

After falling behind 1-0 in the first set, Hall and Trowbridge would only allow one more game en route to the win.

“The make or break game was the third one,” Stangland said. “After that, it was just keeping the ball in play. Once serves got in, they seemed to win more points.”

If Scottsburg’s No. 1 doubles teams wins against Austin, and Seymour or Trinity Lutheran in the finals, the Braves will face them before getting a crack at the individual sectional tournament.

Should Trowbridge and Hall stay undefeated through the Seymour sectional, they will play in the individual tourney starting at Bloomington North next week.

As a team, the Braves fell 4-1 to the Eagles by the afternoon’s end.

In the No. 2 doubles spot, Jenny Runge and Brooklyn Wingler took a 5-4 lead in the first set before falling in a tiebreaker 7-5 to the Eagles’ Kailey Fugate and Macy Baker.

Fugate and Baker closed the second set at 6-2 after building a 3-2 advantage.

Braves sophomore Laken Reynolds faced the Eagles’ Meagan Hollan, and lost 6-0, 6-1.

The Eagles’ Kaylin Carter defeated BC’s Claudia Sibrel 6-1, 6-2 for the No. 2 singles position.

Another Austin victory came at No. 3 singles, with Kami Owens downing Miranda McClusky 6-1, 6-0.

Stangland said that his team needs to focus on their technique at the baseline as they eye the 2017 season.

“We have a lot of work to do on ground strokes,” he said. “We need better form. That hurt us the most in the singles positions. We fell back on slicing the ball when it wasn’t the right shot — especially at No. 1 and No. 3.”

Brownstown still has a Mid-Southern Conference game to make-up with Clarksville next week.

Following the loss, the Braves dropped to 5-11 on the season.

With a slew of underclassmen returning next season, Stangland said next year’s team should be strong.

“Next year looks good,” he said. “We’re only losing one senior off the varsity lineup. If our three singles work all summer, I think we will have a lot better season next year.”

Today, Austin will take on Scottsburg — who drew a bye — in the sectional semifinals while Trinity Lutheran faces Seymour.

Both matches will commence at 4:45 pm.

The sectional championship is scheduled for Friday.

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