By GREG MENGELT
Greg.Mengelt@newsandtribune.com
> SOUTHERN INDIANA —
Casey Marlin scored in the second minute and Providence continued to roll in a 6-0 victory at Jeffersonville.
“We got a couple of early looks and one of them paid off,” Providence caoch Dave Smith said of Marlin’s goal at the 1:43 mark of the first half.
Providence had a 4-0 lead at the break, thanks to goals from Lauren Holland, Rachel Wells and a second from Marlin.
In the second half, Marlin scored her first goal early and Erin Duncan, who assisted on Wells’ goal, scored the Pioneers’ final goal.
“We had a balanced performance,” Smith said. “We got scoring from a lot of different players.”
Kasey Wallace assisted on two of Providence’s goals. Hadley Anderson and Marlin also had assists for the Pioneers, who are 4-1 early in the year.
“We’re off to a great start,” Smith said. “We have tremendous potential. The girls are having fun and playing well together.”
• Holland’s goal gives Highlanders victory: Cassie Holland scored the game’s only goal in the 15th minute as Floyd Central defeated Mercy Academy (Ky.), 1-0 on Thursday.
Holland took a pass from Lauren Wyatt and put the shot in top, right-hand side of the goal just beyond the reach of the Mercy keeper.
“It was a nice, arching shot,” Highlander coach Lewis Stevens said. “It was a good back-and-forth game. They had their chances (to score), but we had a lot of chances, too. It was a hard-earned victory and I’m pretty happy with all of the girls.”
CROSS COUNTRY
• Borden wins Charlestown Invite title: Led by Hunter Williams, who finished second, Borden won the boys’ Charlestown Invitational title on Thursday.
The Braves beat Lanesville by one point for the championship.
Travis Scott finished sixth and Brian Eurton placed seventh for Borden. Braves’ freshman George Tipker finished 13th.
In the girls’ race, Home School Union beat second-place Providence, 34-80.
Erin Denis led Providence with an eighth-place finish.
Jeff, which finished third, was led by Connie Chan’s third-place performance.
Clarksville sophomore Rashanda Hogue was ninth.
VOLLEYBALL
• Jeff improves to 2-0: Jeffersonville improved to 2-0 on the season with a 25-13, 25-10, 21-25, 25-13 victory over Rock Creek Christian Academy on Thursday.
“We lost a game we should not have lost in the third game,” Jeff coach Tim Cox said. “We lost all focus and I subbed a lot of different players in game three and with younger players, we lost focus and made silly errors.”
Jeff recovered to easily win the final set, 25-13.
“I have always believed defense wins matches, and if you play good defense, then our offense will come around, too,” Cox said.
Avery Brumit led the Red Devils with 15 kills. Hannah Samuels and Mia Robertson, who had 13 assists, had three kills apiece.
Senior Courtney Applegate led Jeff with five aces, and Robertson had four. Brumit contributed four blocks.
• Pioneers sweep Salem: Providence improved to 3-3 with a 25-22, 25-16, 25-18 win over Salem on Thursday.
Kristin Simms led the Pioneers with 11 kills, and Mary Beth Mattingly had nine kills and three blocks. Freshman setter Abby Spitznagel led Providence with 29 assists and eight digs. Kylie Flanagan had a team-best 13 digs.
"We were able to really try some things with our lineup tonight that we have not had the opportunity to see in a match yet,” Providence coach Terri Purichia said. “I was very pleased with what we saw from many players. Kristin did an outstanding job tonight. She and Mary Beth hit the ball very well.
“I also thought Abby did a very nice job running the offense tonight. Kattie Kochert’s serve-receive was exceptional, and that will really help our production on offense.”
The Pioneers will face Presentation Academy (Ky.) on Tuesday in their next outing.
• Shorthanded Dragons sweep Lanesville: Even without stars Kristyn Maymon and Hayley Garr, tenth-ranked Silver Creek had little trouble with Lanesville in a 25-17, 25-9, 25-15 victory on Thursday.
“Our other girls are better better,” Creek coach Jeff Zimmerman said. That’s a good sign. We’re not just Maymon and Garr. Everyone has to pitch in.”
Danielle Ramser had 17 assists, seven digs and six aces for Silver Creek. Hannah Smith finished with seven kills and Kim Jamros added five. Alex Carlton led Silver Creek with eight digs, and Jenny Block had seven.
Freshman Vanni Densford pitched in with five blocks and four kills.
“We put her in there and she’s done a great job playing with the big girls,” Zimmerman said of Densford.
• New Wash earns comeback win: After dropping the first two sets against visiting Austin, New Washington swept the final three sets to earn a 10-25, 22-25, 26-24, 25-12, 15-4 triumph.
“We finally started to communicate a little better and we had fewer unforced errors,” New Washington coach Gary Graham assessed. “We played better later on.”
• Borden tops Clarksville in three: Borden improved to 3-6 with a 25-7, 25-7, 25-14 win over Clarksville on Thursday.
Allison Rademacher had nine kills and three aces. Brokly Koetter added four aces, and Crystal Lackey had five kills with no hitting errors.
Borden coach D.J. Zipp said the Braves’ serving was the key.
“Our serving was pretty solid tonight,” Zipp praised. “(We had) a couple more misses than we would like, but we served tougher than we have.”
• Defense leads Bulldogs to three-set win: Lauren Bratcher had 31 assists and Shelby Hoskins had 16 kills, but it was defense that led New Albany to a 25-14, 25-9, 25-10 win over Pekin Eastern on Thursday.
“I thought our backcourt defense did a much better job of understanding where to go in relationship to the block,” Bulldog coach John Breeding said. “Christina Keller played very well tonight.”
Keller had five assists, two behind team-leader Candace Timberlake. Catlin Lilly led New Albany with six aces, and Bratcher added five.
“Lauren Bratcher did nice job of setting the ball and mixing things up,” Breeding said.
• Henryville beats improved West Washington: Henryville improved to 4-0 with a four-set, 16-25, 25-22, 25-16, 26-24 win over West Washington on Thursday.
“West Wash is definitely one of the most-improved team I’ve ever seen,” Henryville coach Shallon Hill said. “They are a good team who are going to give other teams a run for their money.”
Brittany Pierce led Henryville with 17 kills.
“She’s simply a monster sometimes,” Hill said of the Providence transfer. “Needless to say, we’re thrilled to have her.”
Playing in her first match in nearly a year, Cheyenne Mayfield served 20 ball and received 17.
“Once we get her back where she needs to be, she’s going to add a lot of fire to our team,” Hill said. “She’s a tremendous athlete.”
Libero Ashley Dickerson led the Hornets with 12 digs.
Henryville will participate in the Madison Invitational on Saturday.
BOYS’ TENNIS
• Mustangs open with 3-2 victory: New Washington beat Charlestown, 3-2 in its season opener on Thursday.
The Mustangs got victories from Tarren Clapp at No. 2 singles, Chad McKinley at No. 3 singles, and Jacob Ramer and Daniel Hobson at No. 2 doubles.
“It’s always great to win your first match of the season,” New Wash coach Wayne Davis said.
The match came down to Ramer and Hobson against Charlestown’s Ben Delaney and Andrew Gregory. The New Wash duo won both sets in tiebreakers. It won the first tiebreaker, 7-1, then won 7-4 in the second-set tiebreaker.
“With the match on the line, Daniel and Jacob fought back from three games down in each set to give us the win,” Davis said. “They just did a real nice job in their first varsity start together at No. 2 doubles.”
Clapp defeated Cameron Heil, 6-1, 6-2, and McKinley topped Kevin Heil, 6-2 and 6-3.
Charlestown got victories from Chris Braun, who beat Drake Krohn, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) at No. 1 singles, and Jake Atkins and Jacob Delaney at No. 1 doubles. Atkins and Delaney defeated Matt Renschler and Devin Freels, 6-1, 6-4.
• Lanesville edges Borden, 3-2: Brandon Beam and Kyle Craig each won their singles matches for Borden, but it wasn’t enough as the Braves were defeated, 3-2 by Lanesville.
Beam beat Joel Feree at No. 1 singles, 6-0, 6-3. Craig earned a hard-fought victory, 6-3, 6-7 and 6-4 over Clayton Engel.
“Kyle Craig continues to provide us with victories,” Borden coach Fin Burton said. “I sure hope that some of his teammates are taking notice and (trying) to apply what he is doing and put it to use with themselves.”
Borden had a shot at winning with its No. 1 doubles team of Matt Smith and Jared Sanders. Smith and Sanders beat the Eagle tandem of Nick Schoen and Caleb Caldwell, 6-3 in the first set. However, Smith and Sanders were beaten 9-7 in the second-set tiebreaker. Schoen and Caldwell then won the decisive set, 6-2.
At No. 2 singles, Luke Calfee also won his first set before dropped the final two.
“What was lacking in the guys today was mental toughness,” Burton said. “We won four of the first five sets that we played. If you get up like that on teams, you have to find ways to put those matches away.”
• New Albany beats Musketeers, 4-1: New Albany won two of three singles matches and swept the doubles events to beat Pekin Eastern, 4-1 on Thursday.
Alex Stewart at No. 1 singles and Kyle Landrum at No. 2 had very little trouble getting wins. Stewart beat Michael Doebler, 6-0, 6-1, and Landrum topped Josiah Watters, 6-3 and 6-1.
“We got very strong singles play No. 1 and No. 2 (singles),” New Albany coach Bob Dusch said.
Similarly, the Bulldogs’ two winning doubles teams had an easy time with their opponents. Luke Garmon and Christian Meyer defeated Wayne Collard and Caleb Goering, 6-1, 6-0. At No. 2 doubles, Robby Erskine and Shuaib Mirani won, 6-1, 6-3 over Brandon Smith and Matt Pickerill.
“Both doubles teams are showing a much greater understanding of the game,” Duschy said. “(The team) is looking better with each match.”
New Albany will host an invitational on Friday and Saturday.
GIRLS’ GOLF
• CAI tops Charlestown: Christian Academy of Indiana’s Sydney Shrebtienko shot a 39 to medal and lead the Warriors to a 214-227 victory over Charlestown on Thursday.
Taylor Jones added a 50, Hayley Lievers a 62 and Karlie Byrd and 63 for the victorious Warriors.
Marissa Knoebel led Charlestown with a 51.
CAI will face Henryville, Trinity Lutheran and Borden at Champions P ointe on Friday. Henryville handed CAI its only defeat of the season on Aug. 9. The Warriors have won five straight since the loss.
