> SOUTHERN INDIANA — BORDEN

• COACH: Tony Wagoner.

• RETURNING PLAYERS: Haifa Ishtayeh, Sr.; Carson Casey, Jr.; Christina Fink, Jr.; Sara Potter, Jr.

• NEWCOMERS: none.

• KEY DATES: Monday, Aug. 13 vs. Silver Creek, Corydon and Clarksville (Hidden Creek).

• OUTLOOK: Wagoner has high hopes for the season because he has four returning players. He thinks the Braves have a shot of getting at least one player to advance regional. Wagoner says Borden’s schedule is in flux because Henryville currently has no team this season and the West Clark rivals were scheduled to play four times during the 2012 campaign.

• WAGONER SAYS: “I’m actually looking forward to the season. Honestly, I think we can get one or two players out of sectional if they can progress.”



CHARLESTOWN

• COACH: Adam Doherty.

• RETURNING PLAYERS: Marissa Knoebel, Jr.; Natalie Thompson, Sr.

• NEWCOMERS: Sabine Higazy, Jr.; Alexis Anderson, So.

• KEY DATES: Tuesday, Aug. 14 vs. Silver Creek and Floyd Central (Hidden Creek); Thursday, Aug. 16 vs. Silver Creek and Eastern (Hidden Creek); Saturday, Sept. 8, Mid-Southern Conference Championships (Old Capital).

• OUTLOOK: Knoebel is expected to be the Pirates’ No. 1 golfer. Doherty says she has a chance to finish high in the standings of the MSC Championships this year. Higazy should provide Charlestown some leadership as she was the No. 1 singles player for the Pirates’ girls’ tennis team last season.

• DOHERTY SAYS: “I think Marissa can shoot pretty good and place in the conference. I would like to see all my players improve.”



CHRISTIAN ACADEMY OF INDIANA

• COACH: Tim Byrd.

• RETURNING PLAYERS: Sydney Shrebtienko, Sr.; Taylor Jones, Sr.; Karlie Byrd, Sr.; Hayley Lievers, Sr.

• NEWCOMERS: none.

• KEY DATES: Monday vs. Clarksville and Eastern (Hidden Creek).

• OUTLOOK: Experience should be a strength of this Warriors’ squad with four returning seniors. Shrebtienko will be CAI’s leader as she has earned several match medalist honors in her high school career.

• COACH BYRD SAYS: “With small numbers on the team, each player will have to pull their own weight. The girls seem to be excited and ready to play.”



CLARKSVILLE

• COACH: Bob Liter

• RETURNING PLAYERS: Quincy Cooper, Sr.; Amber Skaggs, Jr.

• NEWCOMERS: Miranda DeKorte, Fr.

• KEY DATES: Monday, Aug. 13 vs. Borden, Corydon and Silver Creek (Hidden Creek); Wednesday, Aug. 15 vs. Eastern and Salem (Wooded View); Wednesday, Aug. 22 vs. Silver Creek (Wooded View); Saturday, Sept. 8, MSC Championships (Old Capital); Monday, Sept. 10 vs. Charlestown and New Albany (Hidden Creek).

• OUTLOOK: Cooper will be trying to qualify for regional for the fourth time in her career and earn a second trip to the IHSAA State Finals. She was one stroke short of advancing to state last season at the Evansville North Regional. Cooper also is expected to battle for MSC medalist honors after finishing second in the conference meet last season. Liter is looking for improvement from both Skaggs and DeKorte.

• LITER SAYS: “I look for [Cooper] to be back at regional and go back to state. She played in the Mountain Dew Tour this summer and I think that will help her out.”



FLOYD CENTRAL

• COACH: Lenny Hartlage.

• RETURNING PLAYERS: Eliza Hudson, Jr.; Morgan Stanley, So.; Scarlett Hartlage, Jr.; Ashley Dankovich, Jr.

• NEWCOMERS: Jessica Ingram, Fr.

• TOUGH OPPONENTS: New Albany, Madison.

• OUTLOOK: The Highlanders are expected to be one of the favorites to win the sectional this season because of their four returning players. Floyd Central also could factor into the title mix in a balanced Hoosier Hills Conference. Hudson is one of the most improved players in the area the last few years.

• COACH HARTLAGE: “If the girls keep working hard, we have a good chance to make state.”



HENRYVILLE

• COACH: Robin Embry.

• OUTLOOK: As of now, Henryville has no players on its roster. Embry says he plans to go to school early next week and try to convince some players to join the team.



JEFFERSONVILLE

• COACH: Shadd Clarke.

• RETURNING PLAYERS: Madison Kane, Jr.; Janesse Brooner, So.

• NEWCOMERS: Jiffy Bishop, So.; Kamryn Lee, So.

• TOUGH OPPONENTS: New Albany, Floyd Central, Silver Creek.

• OUTLOOK: It will be another season where the majority of the Red Devils’ roster are inexperienced players. Kane will need to step up as a leader this season as she has the most experience on the team. Clarke thinks she has an outside shot to make regional.

• CLARKE SAYS: “Madison Kane is in her third year and she’s improved each year. She’s shooting in the mid-40s right now. She got some competitive experience over the summer and it has showed. Other than that, we’re looking for improvement. It’s a building year.”



NEW ALBANY

• COACH: Rick Belcher.

• RETURNING PLAYERS: Bailey Biggs, Sr.; Franci Burton, So.; Heidi Steinert, So.; Haley Roth, Jr.

• NEWCOMERS: Chloe Watts, Fr.; Madison Bogdon, So.; Taylor Frame, So.; Bayasa Batsaikhan, Fr.

• KEY DATES: Aug. 21-22, Sunnyside Classic (Valley View and Champions Pointe); Thursday, Sept. 1 vs. Floyd Central and Providence (Wooded View); Saturday, Sept. 10, HHC meet (Sunrise); Tuesday, Sept. 13 vs. Bedford North Lawrence (Otis Park); Thursday, Sept. 15 vs. Floyd Central and Seymour (Shadowood).

• OUTLOOK: With four players back, the Bulldogs have their sights set on repeating as sectional champions for the first time in program history. Belcher is looking for his veteran players to step up their leadership roles after losing their No. 1 player to graduation, Holly Roth. New Albany should be a contender for the HHC championship as well.

• BELCHER SAYS: “I think by the end of the season we should be shooting scores in the 330s. We’ve improved a lot when you consider we lost our No. 1 player. We’ll just see how we come together.”



PROVIDENCE

• COACH: Michelle Landis

• RETURNING PLAYERS: Morgan Boone, Sr.; Morgan Daniel, Jr.; Annie Kaiser, Jr.

• NEWCOMERS: Colleen Geldermann, Fr.; Brooklin Grantz, Fr.; Nicole Kruer, Fr.; Jaclyn Endris, So.; Mary Ann Fitzpatrick, Fr.; Kate Cummins, Fr.

• KEY DATES: Tuesday, Aug. 7 vs. New Albany (Valley View); Aug. 21-22, Sunnyside Classic (Valley View and Champions Pointe); Thursday, Aug. 30 vs. Floyd Central and New Albany (Wooded View).

• OUTLOOK: Providence’s numbers have greatly improved since Landis took over as coach. The Pioneers currently have nine players on their roster after having only three compete in last year’s New Albany Sectional. Landis says her players have a lot to improve on, but they still have high goals like qualifying for regional. Landis, who is in her first season as the Pioneers’ coach, graduated from Providence in 2006. She was on the Pioneer girls’ golf team from 2002-05 and helped Providence win its last sectional title in 2005.

• LANDIS SAYS: “Our No. 1 goal is to win, but we have a young team. Our other goals are to have fun and to build themselves as players and people. We’re going to try to build up the program to where it once was. The girls are working hard.”



SILVER CREEK

• COACH: Joe Ledbetter.

• RETURNING PLAYERS: Mackenzie Coulter, Sr.; Emily Christman, Jr.

• NEWCOMERS: Charlotte Seaton, Fr.; Kaela Roberts, Fr.; Lilly Smith, Fr.; Hannah McGrath, Fr.

• KEY DATES: Tuesday, Aug. 7 vs. Corydon (Champions Pointe); Monday, Aug. 13 vs. Corydon, Borden and Clarksville (Hidden Creek); Tuesday, Aug. 28 vs. North Harrison and Crawford County (New Salisbury); Thursday, Aug. 30 vs. Corydon (Old Capital); Saturday, Sept. 8, MSC Championships (Old Capital).

• OUTLOOK: The bad news for the Dragons is they graduated four seniors. The good news is Silver Creek has several talented freshmen in the program. Even though he expects his young players to go through some growing pains this year, Ledbetter thinks the potential of his freshmen in the future is very high.

• LEDBETTER SAYS: “My team is the youngest I’ve ever had in my five years with the girls’ program. But I expect big things out of these freshmen the next four years. I’m excited about this group. They’re smart and they want to get better.”