Seymour wins 6th straight sectional tennis title

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The trophy case for the Seymour High School girls tennis program got a little more crowded Saturday.

The Owls won their sixth straight sectional title on their home courts by defeating Scottsburg 3-2.

Since the turn of the century, the Owls’ program has won 10 of 17 sectional titles.

They now have 19 sectional crowns since 1985.

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“We’ve been very fortunate to have carried this through to win six straight,” Seymour coach Jennifer Miller said. “That’s tough to do for anyone.”

The championship match was pushed to Saturday morning after rain soaked the courts on Friday afternoon.

Seymour (14-6) took both doubles positions and No. 2 singles to edge the Warriors (13-7).

First off courts was the No. 2 doubles team of senior Rachel Collett and junior Grace Otte, who made quick work of Kilney Harmon and Kaylie Ray 6-1, 6-1.

Owls senior Megan Baurle trailed Megan Johnson 3-2 before coming back to win the next four games to take the first set at No. 2 singles. Baurle then settled in to win the second set 6-0.

In a match that featured long, grind-it-out styled points, Owls seniors Addie Rudge and Katie O’Mara secured the championship with a victory at No. 1 doubles over Alexa Howser and Paige Crites.

Rudge and O’Mara battled to take a 4-3 lead in the first set and buckled in to win it 6-3. The tandem claimed the set second by the same score.

At No. 1 singles, senior Hallie Crenshaw battled with the Warriors’ Leah Hunefeld.

Hunefeld won the first set 6-2 before Crenshaw stormed back to win the second 6-1.

In the decisive third set, Hunefeld distanced herself by three games before winning 6-2.

Like Crenshaw, Seymour senior Kelli Armes found herself in a dogfight at No. 3 singles with Eliza Mount.

Mount won the first set 6-4 before Armes got the second 6-2. The third set saw Mount go up 4-3 before putting the match away with the final two games.

“We knew that Scottsburg has really improved throughout the season,” Miller said. “They were going to give us a tough match. They really battled back and forth, we went to deuce in a lot of games. It was just nice to have success at the doubles and pull it out.”

Baurle and Crenshaw are four-year letter winners who also boast four sectional champions.

“I’m really happy for these seniors to have won four straight,” Miller said. “That’s all they know. I feel like when you win, that attitude carries through.”

On Tuesday, the Owls will take on Shawe Memorial in the Bloomington North Regional.

Last year, the Owls defeated Shawe Memorial 5-0 before falling to Columbus North, 4-1, in the regional finals.

Miller said that the team will need to play well from top to bottom if they’re going to bring home a regional trophy.

“We’re going to have to have very strong play at doubles,” she said. “Our singles are going to need to be consistent and try to keep points and games as short as possible. To play this many matches in such a short period of time, if we have to go into long sets it’s going to make it difficult. We’re going to have to come out, play well, and not take any points off.”

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