AKRON -ÊAlthough Tippecanoe Valley tennis coach Jack Shambaugh characterizes his team as "young and inexperienced at most positions," the Vikings looked anything but Thursday night against Whitko. The Vikings defeated the Wildcats 4-1 in a Three Rivers Conference competition.

In the first match to finish, Valley's No. 1 doubles pair of Kyleigh Gast and Kris Sanders took the court against Whitko's duo of Hilari Ayers and Chelsea Grant. Sanders and Gast took a 2-0 lead in the first set, but Whitko fought back to get within two, 4-2. However, the Vikings regained their composure and won the first set 6-2.

After winning the first set, Gast and Sanders, who competed in last year's regionals, were in attack mode. They won the second set 6-0.

"Our No. 1 doubles team really started to cook tonight," said Shambaugh. "They were hitting the corners, hitting the lines, and taking whatever their opponents gave them. They are really starting to round into shape."

In the second match to finish, No. 2 singles players Julie Studebaker from Valley and Steph Haines from Whitko went head-to-head. Studebaker got the upper hand early, taking a 2-1 lead in the first set. She went on to win the first set 6-2 and then the second set 6-2 as well.

At the No. 3 singles slot, Viking Kelly Sanders took on Wildcat Emily Christ. Sanders won in two sets, 6-2, 6-1 to get Valley's third point of the game and give the Viking the team victory.

Jamie Doud and Jayme McCalla teamed up at Valley's No. 2 doubles slot to play Whitko's Jodi Frantz and Brandy Bayles. Doud and McCalla got Valley's fourth point of the match by downing Frantz and Bayles 6-2, 6-3.

Whitko's only point of the match came at the No. 1 singles position. Wildcat Brooke Workman dropped the first set of the match to Valley's Alyssa Anglin 6-2. However, Workman fought back in the second set to get a 6-1 win and send the match into a third set.

After a long third set, Workman came out on top 6-4 to make the final team score 4-1 in Valley's favor.

"I think we played OK today," said Shambaugh. "We are still young and inexperienced at most positions, but we played a lot better today than we did Saturday. We made improvements, and that's all I can ask."

The Vikings improve to 2-1 overall and 2-0 in TRC play, something Shambaugh says is very important.

"In the conference, you lose one match and you are pretty much done," said Shambaugh. "This makes us 2-0 in the conference, and it keeps us alive."

The Vikings play North Judson in the first round of the Bremen Tournament Saturday.

Whitko falls to 1-2 overall and 0-2 in TRC matches. The Wildcats host Columbia City Monday at Whitko Middle School.

TIPPECANOE VALLEY 4, WHITKO 1

Singles

No. 1 -ÊBrooke Workman (W) def. Alyssa Anglin 2-6, 6-1, 6-4

No. 2 -ÊJulie Studebaker (V) def. Steph Haines (V) 6-2, 6-2

No. 3 -ÊKelly Sanders (V) def. Emily Crist 6-2, 6-1

Doubles

No. 1 -ÊKyleigh Gast/Kris Sanders (V) def. Hilari Ayres/Chelsea Grant 6-2, 6-0

No. 2 -ÊJamie Doud/Jayme McCalla (V) def. Jodi Frantz/Brandy Bayles 6-2, 6-3

JV -ÊTIPPECANOE VALLEY 5, WHITKO 0

Singles

No. 1 -ÊElizabeth Johnson (V) def. Kelli Robinson 9-7

No. 2 -ÊCarli Anglin (V) def. Steph Boggs 8-5

No. 3 - Hannah Ervin (V) def. Jen Wendel 8-6

Doubles

No. 1 -ÊKatie Nelson/Linda Weller (V) def. Tiff Hatton/Angie Trump 8-6

No. 2 -ÊBeth Carter/Erin Weaver (V) def. Katie Menzie/Jill Mulligan 8-4

Exhibition

Hanna Fex (V) def. Charissa Waggoner 8-3 [[In-content Ad]]