Valley Tennis Team Sees Turnaround
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
BOURBON -ÊWhen Jack Shambaugh took over the Tippecanoe Valley girls tennis program three years ago, the Vikings went 6-10 in his first season. Last year the Valley squad went 12-4, and this year, the Vikings ended the regular season 12-2 after defeating Triton 3-2 Tuesday in Bourbon.
"Valley is a very solid team," said Triton coach Laura Lamaster. "I have to hand it to Valley, they have really come around. The coaches have done an excellent job the last three years. They are at a point where I would like our girls to be in the future."
"Triton is very a deceiving team," said Valley coach Jack Shambaugh. "They are young, but we saw some good tennis tonight."
Triton started out on the right foot, winning at the No. 2 doubles slot. Triton's Crystal Sellers and Kelly Whiteman teamed up to play Jamie Doud and Jayme McCalla in the first match to finish. After winning the first set 6-4, Sellers and Whiteman went up 3-0 before allowing Valley to score in the second set. Doud and McCalla won two games in the second set before the Triton duo won 6-2 to put the Trojans up 1-0 in the team competition.
"We started out flat and a bit slow," said Shambaugh. "They took a while to warm up, but they finished well."
Then Valley's Wendy Tilden defeated Brittany Zeider at the No. 3 singles position 6-3, 6-2 to tie the overall score at 1-all.
In the next match to finish, Valley's No.1 singles player Carissa Parker defeated Angela Wilcox. Parker won the first set 6-0. In the second set, Wilcox captured the first game before Parker won six straight to finish with a 6-1 win in the set, putting Valley up 2-1.
"Carissa played very well tonight," said Shambaugh. "She has really come on lately, especially in the last few matches."
Valley's No. 1 doubles pair of Kyleigh Gast and Kris Sanders defeated Triton's duo of Gina Longmire and Crystal Lamaster 6-1, 6-2 to earn the deciding point of the evening.
However, another match was still in progress. Triton's Jenny Berger was squaring off against Valley's Abby Lewis at No. 2 singles. Berger, who has played at the No. 1 spot most of the season, defeated Lewis 6-3 in the first set to take an advantage into the second. Berger then went up 4-3 in the second set.
But Lewis fought back. She tied the score at 4-4 and then took a 5-4 advantage before Berger fought back to win the set 7-5.
"Berger was outstanding at the No. 2 position," said Lamaster. "Tonight she played the best tennis I've seen her play all season. She mixed up her shots and was very focused. This is as mentally strong as I have seen her.
"No. 1 is a tough spot to play, and we switched her with Angie Wilcox tonight, and I think it was good for both of them."
Valley ends the season with a 12-2 record, while Triton falls to 3-11 on the season. Both teams will head to sectional competitons Thursday. Valley will compete in the Wawasee Sectional, while Triton will travel to the Bremen Sectional.
"This was a nice match to help us prepare for sectional later this week," said Lamaster. "Valley is very strong, good competition."
"For sectional, we are going to concentrate on maintaining consistency," said Shambaugh. "At this point in the season, if you don't have the shots by now, you're not going to have them. We will work on what we do best and try to take advantage of the open court."
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 3, TRITON 2
Singles
No. 1 -ÊCarissa Parker (TV) def. Angela Wilcox 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 -ÊJenny Berger (T) def. Abby Lewis 6-3, 7-5
No. 3 -ÊWendy Tilden (TV) def. Brittany Zeider 6-3, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -ÊKyleigh Gast/Kris Sanders (TV) def. Crystal Lamaster/Gina Longmire 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 -ÊCrystal Sellers/Kelly Whiteman (T) def. Jamie Doud/Jayme McCalla 6-4, 6-2
JV -ÊTIPPECANOE VALLEY 4, TRITON 1
No. 1 -ÊAlyssa Anglin (TV) def. Lena Miller 6-0, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2
No. 2 -ÊJulie Studebaker (TV) def. Sarell Fetters 8-3
No. 3 -ÊJenny Kocsis (T) def. Katie Nelson 8-4
Doubles
No. 1 -ÊAngela Weller/Elizabeth Johnson (TV) def. Sarah Shaffer/Melissa Virgil 8-5
No. 2 -ÊLinda Weller/Kelly Sanders (TV) def. Ashley Westafer/Tiffany Warner 8-5 [[In-content Ad]]
BOURBON -ÊWhen Jack Shambaugh took over the Tippecanoe Valley girls tennis program three years ago, the Vikings went 6-10 in his first season. Last year the Valley squad went 12-4, and this year, the Vikings ended the regular season 12-2 after defeating Triton 3-2 Tuesday in Bourbon.
"Valley is a very solid team," said Triton coach Laura Lamaster. "I have to hand it to Valley, they have really come around. The coaches have done an excellent job the last three years. They are at a point where I would like our girls to be in the future."
"Triton is very a deceiving team," said Valley coach Jack Shambaugh. "They are young, but we saw some good tennis tonight."
Triton started out on the right foot, winning at the No. 2 doubles slot. Triton's Crystal Sellers and Kelly Whiteman teamed up to play Jamie Doud and Jayme McCalla in the first match to finish. After winning the first set 6-4, Sellers and Whiteman went up 3-0 before allowing Valley to score in the second set. Doud and McCalla won two games in the second set before the Triton duo won 6-2 to put the Trojans up 1-0 in the team competition.
"We started out flat and a bit slow," said Shambaugh. "They took a while to warm up, but they finished well."
Then Valley's Wendy Tilden defeated Brittany Zeider at the No. 3 singles position 6-3, 6-2 to tie the overall score at 1-all.
In the next match to finish, Valley's No.1 singles player Carissa Parker defeated Angela Wilcox. Parker won the first set 6-0. In the second set, Wilcox captured the first game before Parker won six straight to finish with a 6-1 win in the set, putting Valley up 2-1.
"Carissa played very well tonight," said Shambaugh. "She has really come on lately, especially in the last few matches."
Valley's No. 1 doubles pair of Kyleigh Gast and Kris Sanders defeated Triton's duo of Gina Longmire and Crystal Lamaster 6-1, 6-2 to earn the deciding point of the evening.
However, another match was still in progress. Triton's Jenny Berger was squaring off against Valley's Abby Lewis at No. 2 singles. Berger, who has played at the No. 1 spot most of the season, defeated Lewis 6-3 in the first set to take an advantage into the second. Berger then went up 4-3 in the second set.
But Lewis fought back. She tied the score at 4-4 and then took a 5-4 advantage before Berger fought back to win the set 7-5.
"Berger was outstanding at the No. 2 position," said Lamaster. "Tonight she played the best tennis I've seen her play all season. She mixed up her shots and was very focused. This is as mentally strong as I have seen her.
"No. 1 is a tough spot to play, and we switched her with Angie Wilcox tonight, and I think it was good for both of them."
Valley ends the season with a 12-2 record, while Triton falls to 3-11 on the season. Both teams will head to sectional competitons Thursday. Valley will compete in the Wawasee Sectional, while Triton will travel to the Bremen Sectional.
"This was a nice match to help us prepare for sectional later this week," said Lamaster. "Valley is very strong, good competition."
"For sectional, we are going to concentrate on maintaining consistency," said Shambaugh. "At this point in the season, if you don't have the shots by now, you're not going to have them. We will work on what we do best and try to take advantage of the open court."
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 3, TRITON 2
Singles
No. 1 -ÊCarissa Parker (TV) def. Angela Wilcox 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 -ÊJenny Berger (T) def. Abby Lewis 6-3, 7-5
No. 3 -ÊWendy Tilden (TV) def. Brittany Zeider 6-3, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -ÊKyleigh Gast/Kris Sanders (TV) def. Crystal Lamaster/Gina Longmire 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 -ÊCrystal Sellers/Kelly Whiteman (T) def. Jamie Doud/Jayme McCalla 6-4, 6-2
JV -ÊTIPPECANOE VALLEY 4, TRITON 1
No. 1 -ÊAlyssa Anglin (TV) def. Lena Miller 6-0, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2
No. 2 -ÊJulie Studebaker (TV) def. Sarell Fetters 8-3
No. 3 -ÊJenny Kocsis (T) def. Katie Nelson 8-4
Doubles
No. 1 -ÊAngela Weller/Elizabeth Johnson (TV) def. Sarah Shaffer/Melissa Virgil 8-5
No. 2 -ÊLinda Weller/Kelly Sanders (TV) def. Ashley Westafer/Tiffany Warner 8-5 [[In-content Ad]]