Brack leads Scots' singles sweep vs. Jay (04/29/04)

PORTLAND — Every team on the Anderson Highland schedule had to be happy to see Ashlee Davis depart. Still, Valerie Brack hasn’t given the Scots’ opponents much of a break.

Brack stayed perfect on the season Wednesday as she led Anderson Highland to a 3-2 victory over the Jay County girls tennis team.

The Patriots picked up both wins in doubles action, while Brack led a trio of dominating singles wins for the Scots.

“My doubles are doing really great,” said Jay County coach Barb Stults. “We still need to do some work with our singles. They need to be more consistent.”

Brack replaced Davis, who is 18-14 this year at Wake Forest and ranked 70th in the nation. Davis won individual state singles titles in her junior and senior years and was an All-Olympic Athletic Conference, all-district and all-state player in each of her four seasons.

While she’s a much softer hitter than her powerhouse predecessor, Brack has not missed a beat.

She picked up her win by a 6-0, 6-0 tally over Whitney Schemenaur. It pushed her to 7-0 on the season, while Highland improved to 5-2.

Highland stayed perfect in the OAC as well with its three singles victories, staying in the hunt for the conference title with Connersville.

Erin Hostettler matched Brack’s dominance at No. 2 doubles. She topped Stephanie Homan of the Patriots 6-0, 6-0.

Angie Stults picked up the only game for Jay County in singles action in a 6-0, 6-1 defeat to Mary Hampton.

“We’d like to get our singles up there and having some confidence,” said Barb Stults. “Hopefully they can start getting some victories in there.”

The doubles teams have been putting together some victories, with the No. 1 duo especially playing well for the Patriots.

Julie Sours and Erin St. Myers have been the most consistent pair of the Patriots throughout the season, and Wednesday was no exception even though they were challenged.

Sours and St. Myers trailed early, then led, then trailed again in the first set by a 6-5 score against Megan Stamper and Whitney Williams. But, Sours served out the next game to force a tie-breaker.

The Patriot pair dominated the extra session, winning each of the first four points en route to a 7-6 (7-3) first-set victory.

Sours and St. Myers trailed again in the second set by a 3-2 score, but never lost another game. They took four straight, winning the final one at love on Highland’s serve.

They took the last point by way of a double-fault for the 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 victory.

“Determination (has made them strong),” said Stults, noting that Sours and St. Myers have a goal of getting to the regional tournament. “I know they’re out here hitting a lot in their spare time.”

Erin Schmiesing and Chelsea Reff dominated the first five games of their match against Amanda Bingham and Becky Swenk before things got interesting. They dropped two straight games before closing out the first set, then lost the second set 6-4 on a double-fault by Schmiesing.

The third set was equally close, with the Jay County duo grabbing leads of 4-3 and 5-4. They avoided a tiebreaker, finally finishing off the 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

The Patriots, who slipped to 1-7 overall and 0-3 in the OAC, will play in the DeKalb Invitational Saturday at 9 a.m.

Junior varsity

Jay County’s junior varsity team found its way back into the win column Wednesday with a 4-1 victory over Anderson Highland.

Both doubles teams earned victories for the Patriots, with Jenae Horn and Jessica DeRome winning by the largest margin. The No. 1 doubles pair knocked off Leanne Bryant and Marion Miller 8-3.

In the other doubles match Annika Kuitzsch and Shonda Sutton defeated Jessica Rockhill and Amanda Rowlen 9-8 (10-8).

Carissa Wilkins also went to a tiebreaker for her win at No. 3 singles. She got by Lillian Washburn 9-8 (7-3).

Amanda Hicks topped Kathryn Luksus 8-5 at No. 2 singles, while Brianne Morrical dropped an 8-4 decision to Mandy Caplin at No. 1 singles.[[In-content Ad]]