DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
INDIANAPOLIS – The long wait for Alexa Brotherton and Macy McClure to get back on the court ended Saturday as they competed in the individual regional Saturday in Indianapolis, winning twice and claiming a regional title for Adams Central high school.
The action was all part of a monster day of athletics on the campus of North Central High School on 86th Street in Indianapolis. The Adams Central pair was one of dozens of teams competing in the singles and doubles competitions, while eight teams were still alive in the team competition at the beautiful North Central tennis complex. Over at the football stadium, the Unified state meet was being held in the morning, with the boys’ state meet having been contested on Friday night and the girls’ set for later in the afternoon.
Brotherton and McClure entered the day at 19-0 and the pair was pitted against the 22-1 team of Lola Goodrick and Madalyn Cheesman of McCutcheon.
The Jets won the first two points of the match, but eventually fell down 2-0 in the opening set. Both AC players struggled with the hard ground strokes of the taller Cheesman, but they found their rhythm midway through the set and eventually found themselves even at 4-4.
A strong service game by Brotherton and good action at the net by McClure put the Jets up 6-5 and they captured the first set 7-5 on a great return by McClure.
The duo’s upper hand over the pair from McCutcheon continued into the second set, with the Jets serving first. Brotherton and McClure found a break of serve and saw out the match, 6-3.
That gave the girls time to eat some lunch, watch the Team Finals and prepare for East Noble.
“It’s not a team that we actually see on our schedule,” noted head coach Jessica Disinger of East Noble. “But I feel like we see a lot of the same teams and we feel like we can be competitive and have a real chance to advance to next week.”
Entering the regional championship at 21-3, Rylie Pazstor and Cayden Hulbert were no match for their AC counterparts, dropping the first set 6-3 and losing the match with a 6-1 loss in the second set.
JUST EIGHT REMAIN
Brotherton and McClure are one of just three remaining unbeaten doubles pairs in the state of Indiana. The pairings will be done via blind draw, with a few stipulations included for seeding.
The four winning teams from the individual regional are as follows:
South Knox (25-1) Grace Carie and Caroline Beard
Franklin Community (21-4) Meleah Murphy and Kathryn Pinnick
Adams Central (21-0) Alexa Brotherton and Macy McClure
Park Tudor (25-0) Emelyn Harris and Marissa Benge
Three more teams qualified after they remained undefeated in the state tournament as their teams lost in the Team Semi-State:
Columbus North (17-6) Nino Akhalaya and Annabelle Sun
Terre Haute South (22-3) Jessica Khallubavi and Savannah Semler
Carroll (FW) (23-0) Chloe Ceresa and Riley Glassley
Additionally, the doubles team from Saturday’s Team State champion, Jasper, are also automatically in the draw:
Jasper (28-2) Adaysha Smiley and Reese Mundy
The Quarterfinal matches will be played at 2 p.m. on Friday at Park Tudor.
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