NEW ALBANY – New Albany rolled to a 5-0 win over Bedford North Lawrence in the consolation round of the Hoosier Hills Conference tournament during girls high school tennis action on Wednesday.
Katie Sullivan set the tone for the Bulldogs with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Bailey Guthrie at No.1 singles, while Alyssa Berryman bounced Anne Curtis 6-0, 6-0 at No.2.
BNL’s most competitive match came at No.3 singles, as New Albany’s Venus Alstott fought off Emma Conover 6-4, 7-5.
“Emma was able to really test her girl to the limits, especially in that second set,” BNL coach Ian Dillman said. “However, we just came up a little bit short. The injuries with Emma are just continuing on and on, and it’s affecting her play. I know she would’ve won that match if she was 100 percent healthy.”
In doubles, Callie Loesch and Macy Ryan topped Jada Key and Lauren Salzmann 6-1, 6-0 at No.1, while Sarah McBride and Halle Hamilton defeated Emma Voris and Claire Edwards 6-1, 6-1.
“Along with advancing our footwork, we need to work on our placement and getting ourselves into position to hit these balls,” Dillman said. “A lot of times we like to hit the balls at our head height, way out of our strike zone, so our balls don’t go over the net with a lot of power, they just kind of sit there for the opponents to whale on them. For us, we have to make sure that we can get ourselves into position with quick footwork and bring that racket back early against these harder hitters.”
The Stars will host Seymour in the HHC consolation finale on Thursday.
Hoosier Hills Conference
Consolation round
New Albany 5, BNL 0
Singles
1 Katie Sullivan d. Bailey Guthrie 6-0, 6-0
2 Alyssa Berryman d. Anne Curtis 6-0, 6-0
3 Venus Alstott d. Emma Conover 6-4, 7-5
Doubles
1 Callie Loesch and Macy Ryan d. Jada Key and Lauren Salzmann 6-1, 6-0
2 Sarah McBride and Halle Hamilton d. Emma Voris and Claire Edwards 6-1, 6-1
