GIRLS TENNIS: Lady Kings reign at sectional
May 20—The Lewis Cass girls tennis team entered the Logansport Sectional as the favorite and proceeded to have a dominant showing in winning the championship.
The Kings swept Delphi 5-0 in the championship match Saturday morning.
The Kings (10-3) didn't drop a single set against the best Oracles team (11-10) in years. Delphi knocked off defending champion Twin Lakes 3-2 Thursday. Twin Lakes beat Logansport 3-2 Wednesday.
But it was the Kings who reclaimed the title. They have now won five sectional titles in girls tennis: 2009, 2010, 2015, 2021 and 2023.
Erika Johnson defeated Makenzy Miller 6-0, 6-2 at No. 1 singles. Katie Hurst defeated Kylie Unger 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. Addison Ousley defeated Kylie McLeland 6-0, 6-4 at No. 3 singles.
Dixie Wagoner and Abigail Hileman defeated Abigail O'Neil and Kathryn Zimpfer 6-0, 6-3 at No. 1 doubles. Maryn Zeck and Guadalupe Gonzalez defeated Hannah Ladd and Wren Isom 6-0, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles.
"I'm pretty happy with how it turned out," No. 1 singles player Johnson said. "Our team has worked so hard this season, up and down, through good matches, bad matches. We came out today and played as a team and I'm proud of all of us."
Johnson made the move from No. 2 singles to No. 1 singles this year and proceeded to lose just two matches all season in dual meets.
"I was very nervous at the start of the year," she said of the move up, "but I just had to be confident and come out ready to play because I knew how to hit a groundstroke and I just had to come out and play how I knew to play and enjoy it."
Johnson added she made the big step up by playing tennis all winter at the Howard County Tennis Center in Greentown.
Lewis Cass coach Matt Hurst said Delphi was a formidable opponent coming off the win over Twin Lakes.
"The score doesn't always tell. If you look at the scores it looks like we blew them out, but we didn't," Hurst said. "They were good matches, Delphi played a good match, they fought through points. I'm just happy with the girls. They did what they needed to do."
The Kings had the most complete team in the sectional field all season as they also went undefeated against the field during the regular season.
"They had a great season. They've earned it," Hurst said. "The girls do the work, they put in the time and make it fun to coach them and they did what they needed to do."
The Lady King starters include seniors Johnson and Ousley, juniors Wagoner and Hileman, sophomores Zeck and Gonzalez and freshman Katie Hurst.
Cass plays two-time defending state champion and No. 2-ranked Carmel at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Kokomo Regional.
