May 31, 2011
North puts up fight, falls short in tennis semistate Staff Writer The Tribune-Star JASPER — Terre Haute North put up a good fight but lost to No. 3-ranked Floyd Central 4-1 in the Jasper Semistate for girls high school tennis Monday. Floyd Central (23-3) will advance to the eighth-team state finals, which begin Friday at Park Tudor and Carmel and conclude Saturday at Indianapolis North Central. North, ranked 14th in the state, finished 14-5. This was its second loss to Floyd Central by the same exact score this season. “Today we played them a lot better than we did during the regular season,” North coach Jim Cook emphasized. “At this juncture of the season, our singles players probably played the best they’ve played all year.” The Patriots’ only victory came at No. 2 doubles, where seniors Makenzie Utterback and Clair Haley combined to defeat the Jamie Wallace/Kadey Welch duo 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. Utterback and Haley finished the season 21-0 together, with Haley ending up 25-0 with different doubles partners this season. Other final North records were senior Sarah Potter (15-10 at No. 1 singles), sophomore Anna Potter (19-6 at No. 2 singles), Morgan Cook (9-9 at No. 3 singles) and seniors Morgan Mills and Mary Kate Etling (12-10 at No. 1 doubles). That means five of North’s top seven players are seniors who won’t be back next season. “Anytime you’ve got a group of that many, they’re going to be tough to replace,” coach Cook admitted. “But we have a good nucleus of younger kids coming up.” The veteran coach thinks Floyd Central is “good enough” to win the state title next weekend, although the Highlanders might have their hands full trying to knock off No. 1 South Bend St. Joseph’s or No. 2 Evansville Memorial.
Floyd Central 4, Terre Haute North 1 Singles — Olivia Boesing (FC) def. Sarah Potter 6-3, 6-2; Carmen Schreiber (FC) def. Anna Potter 7-5, 7-5; Katherine Dauby (FC) def. Morgan Cook 6-1, 6-1. Doubles — Chelsey Shackelford-Whitney Batliner (FC) def. Morgan Mills-Mary Kate Etling 62, 6-1; Makenzie Utterback-Clair Haley (THN) def. Jamie Wallace-Kadey Welch 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
