Columbus North coach Kendal Hammel talks to his team before the start of the their match against Franklin at Saturday’s Center Grove Semistate.
Rob Baker | For The Republic
By Ken Severson
For The Republic
GREENWOOD — The unbeaten Franklin girls had a few things on their minds prior to Saturday’s semistate battle with Columbus North.
One, it was graduation day for four of the Grizzly Cub seniors. Two, trying to make a second straight state quarterfinal appearance. Three, thinking about a bit of gamesmanship that had Franklin seething.
Starting seniors Rylie Wilkison, Chelsie Rayl, Kennedy Urban and Emma Sappenfield received their diplomas in a morning ceremony that was changed to accommodate them and then led the sixth-ranked Grizzly Cubs to a dramatic 3-2 win over the co-No. 14 Bull Dogs on Center Grove’s courts.
Rayl sealed the deal at No. 3 singles, beating the Bull Dogs’ Annabelle Sun 6-1, 6-3 in a three-hour match that had the crowds on both sides roaring with each point.
Franklin (27-0) now faces Fort Wayne Carroll on Friday in the state quarterfinals, also to be held at Center Grove.
The Bull Dogs’ top two singles players, senior Kathryn Wilson and Aya Saad, both won, defeating Wilkison and sophomore Marnie Moore. Wilson, the reigning state singles champion, beat Wilkison 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, while Saad was a 6-4, 6-2 winner at No. 2 singles for North (16-5).
Franklin’s doubles teams prevailed, with the No. 1 tandem of Urban and junior Kate Pinnick topping North’s Lizzie Bodart and Lucy Bergman in three sets, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4, while the No. 2 team of Sappenfield and junior Meleah Murphy won 6-3, 6-4 against Grace Conner and Lison Cloteaux.
After the final doubles match ended, all eyes were glued on Rayl and Sun’s battle, which featured plenty of good volleys, plays, hits and effort.
Rayl was up 5-1 in the second set when Sun started making a comeback, thanks to her play as well as the support she was getting from her teammates. Not to be outdone, the Cubs did a lot of urging of their own for Rayl, and when Sun’s final return shot went out of bounds, Rayl and her teammates celebrated.
