Prep roundup for Wednesday, Sept. 13
Sep. 13—Kokomo's boys tennis team beat Lafayette Jeff 3-2 in a North Central Conference West Division clash Tuesday on the Bronchos' courts.
"This was a big win for us," Kokomo coach Travis Taflinger said. "This result means we are going to the conference championships on Saturday with the top four teams. The past two years, we have been in the bottom six [part of the] tourney, playing for fifth place as the best option."
Caleb Taflinger took a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles and Ari Leger and Harry Blake prevailed 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 2 doubles. The Kats' other point came at No. 3 singles where Mitch McClelland was up a set (6-1) when his opponent retired.
"Caleb, Mitch and No. 2 doubles all won very quickly," Travis Taflinger said. "Lafayette Jeff had a real solid No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles team. Our team has great depth and we are able to win at different points each night to get a team victory."
Kokomo (10-4, 3-0 NCC West) hosts Harrison on Thursday with the division's No. 1 seed for Saturday's play at stake. The top two teams from each division will battle for the title.
EASTERN 5, MAC 0
The Comets dropped just one game across the four contested points in the match at Maconaquah.
No. 1 singles player Luke Laubenstein won 6-1, 6-0 while No. 2 singles player Colton Lindsay, the No. 1 doubles team of Parker Rogers and Sam Torivo and the No. 2 doubles team of Jase Cloum and Jonathan Atherton all won by 6-0, 6-0 scores. The Comets won the No. 3 singles point by default.
"The boys did well," Eastern coach Shawn Flanary. "The Maconaquah team is young and they're rebuilding, but their kids are working at it. We were just excited to have the opportunity to play them. I felt like our boys played well and were focused."
VOLLEYBALL
EASTERN 3, WABASH 1
The Comets defeated the visiting Apaches 25-20, 25-27, 25-18, 25-20.
Jenna Odle and Audra Flanary led the Comets with nice all-around lines — Odle recorded 13 kills, 13 assists, four aces and two blocks and Flanary totaled 10 kills, four aces, three blocks and 15 digs.
Also for Eastern (13-1), Shelby Rice had 18 digs and Katie Hendricks had 15 digs.
"Sometimes you have to work a little harder to get the job done, and the girls were able to do that [Tuesday]," Eastern coach Liza Flanary said. "We didn't serve great and left a lot of holes in our defense, so that will be our focus in practice [today]. Our goal each game is to have fun, work together and improve, and I felt like we did that.
"I am proud of these girls. It's not always going to be pretty."
Eastern visits Clinton Central on Thursday for a Hoosier Heartland Conference match. Eastern is 4-0 in league play.
NW 3, CARROLL 0
Northwestern swept visiting Carroll 3-0 (25-13, 25-10, 25-12). Aliviah Sullivan floored seven kills to lead the Tigers' attack, Kendal Ziems served six aces and Lexi Closson set the offensive table with 18 assists.
CASS 3, N. MIAMI 1
Lewis Cass prevailed in a tough second set to key the 3-1 win (12-25, 31-29, 25-20, 25-15) in Three Rivers Conference play. The Kings improved to 8-9 overall and 2-1 in the TRC.
"We came out slow but really battled in that second game and turned it around," Cass coach Katie Cowell said. "We got aggressive and started putting balls away."
Abbey Hileman and Maci Garland floored 12 kills apiece to lead the Kings' attack. Defensively, Brooklynn Kraner had three blocks, Emma Hildebrand had 12 digs and Garland had eight digs.
S'WOOD 3, MAC 0
Southwood's quick attacks helped the Knights defeat Maconaquah 25-10, 25-11, 25-14 in a TRC match at Maconaquah.
Emma Zeiser had four kills for the Braves and Delaney Betzner and Averie Maiben had five assists apiece. Bailey Carson led the defense with 17 digs and 15 receptions.
GIRLS GOLF
TIPTON 200, EB 224, M-G INC.
Kennedy Lancaster shot 42, Josie Butler 43 and the Blue Devils prevailed in a three-team match with Eastbrook and Madison-Grant.
Lucy Lightfoot's 54 and Claire Orcutt's 61 rounded out Tipton's score.
GIRLS SOCCER
NW 11, ELWOOD 0
Class 2A No. 15-ranked Northwestern had 10 different players score in the victory over visiting Elwood.
Jessica Edwards scored a brace for the Tigers (8-1-1) and Abigail Keeney, Addison Robinson, Bethany Loveless, Morgan Kistler, Addison Bumgardner, Madelyn Gonzales, Hannah Eller, Lexi Hale and Izabella Arrick scored once each.
Northwestern hosts Western on Thursday for the Tigers' senior night.
OAK HILL 5, EASTERN 0
Eastern 'keeper Ruby Sheets had 19 saves in the road loss.
BOYS SOCCER
FAITH CH. 2, CARROLL 1
Class A No. 9 Carroll fell a goal short against Class A No. 2-ranked Faith Christian in a match at Lafayette.
Ashton Hollinger scored Carroll's goal and Cohen Miller had five saves in goal. The Cougars dropped to 6-3.
BLACKFORD 3, TAYLOR 1
Blackford took a 2-0 lead into halftime, but Taylor cut the deficit in half when Eli O'Neal scored about 12 minutes into the second half. From there, the Titans had chances to draw even, but came up empty and the Bruins scored on a penalty kick with around 4:00 remaining to seal it.
"It's been the story of our season — missed opportunities," Taylor coach Kirk Wiley said. "We had a lot of the possession in the second half, spent a lot of time on our half of the field. We had some good chances, but we couldn't convert."
Carlos Hinojosa assisted on O'Neal's goal. Taylor 'keeper Angelo Anders recorded a dozen saves.
