Kokomo — Maconaquah beat Eastern 3-2 in Mid-Indiana Conference boys tennis action Wednesday. The match started on the Comets’ home courts before moving to the Howard County Indoor Tennis Center to conclude after rain hit early during the first sets. Once indoors, the singles matches were played first and Maconaquah swept those points to take the team result before the doubles points took the court.

For Mac, Cole Shafer won 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 singles, Ryan Frantz won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2, and Tanner Christner won 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3 singles.

“I thought Cole Shafer played well in coming back and winning the singles match after he lost the first set,” Mac coach Tim Maiben said. “I was also really proud of the doubles. I know we didn’t pick up a point in either spot, but [the No. 2 team] went three sets and the other had a really good second set against a tough team from Eastern.

“It took the suspense out of it because we won the three singles points first. The doubles could have easily not played or given up but I felt they played through it all.”

Maconaquah improved to 7-1 on the season, 2-0 in the MIC. Eastern fell to 1-2 and 0-1.

Eastern won the No. 1 doubles match where Michael Dunkle and Joel Coffman won 6-1, 7-5. The 2 doubles team of Adam McKinney and Austin Chase won 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.

“I thought the kids played pretty well,” Eastern coach Andrew Miller said. “I was pretty proud that [the doubles teams] maintained focus even though the team had already lost.

“Overall I’m happy with the progress we’ve been making but I know there’s a long way to go before we hit our true potential.”

Taylor 3, H. Heights 2

Normal No. 1 doubles player Cameron Clark was injured in warmups, which forced Taylor coach Dave Wise to juggle his lineup on the fly against Hamilton Heights.

Logan Barnes, who is playing with his left arm only after injuring the other one, moved into the No. 1 doubles spot, where he and Matt Brankle were able to pick up a 6-1, 6-0 victory.

Freshman Shawn Tokarcik made his varsity debut at No. 2 doubles with fellow freshman Casey Glick, where the young duo fought off a pair of tiebreakers for a 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6) win.

Nathan Gotshall rounded out Taylor’s winners with a 7-5, 6-1 victory at No. 2 singles.

“For a couple freshmen to win a couple tiebreakers, that was really the highlight of the night,” Taylor coach Dave Wise said.

The Titans improved to 4-0 on the year with the win, 2-0 in Mid-Indiana Conference play.

“That’s where we were last year at this time,” Wise said. “We now get into a stretch where we play Logansport, Twin Lakes and Mississinewa. Last year, we lost all three of those matches, and I’m anxious to see how we do in those matches this year.”

North Central 4, Kokomo 1

Drew Sale won Kokomo’s point with a 7-5, 6-1 victory at No. 3 singles at North Central in Indianapolis.

“I thought we played well everywhere,” Kokomo coach Shawn Flanary said. “They were just a little better than us as a whole, but I was proud of the way that Drew Sale had a nice win there at 3 singles, and we competed in both our doubles spots too; they were tight matches.”

At No. 1 doubles, Blake Brown and Keaton Dubois lost 6-1, 7-5. The No. 2 team of Cody Shipley and Drew Sawyer fell 7-6, 7-5. Kokomo is 5-2.

VOLLEYBALL

Western def. Frankfort 22-25, 26-24, 25-15, 29-27

The Panthers dropped the first game, then came back to win the next three in another hotly contested affair between the rivals. It was the match Western’s players had been looking forward to all August.

“We were going into this looking back at the [2009] sectional championship game that we lost to Frankfort,” said Western skipper Lindsay Reinking, whose team improved to 7-1. “This for us was our biggest match of the season. We came in ready to play. We were fired up.

“First game didn’t go our way but we still played great. Overall, the girls left everything they had on the court. We had our ups and downs but overall we outplayed them. The girls worked so hard for everything they’ve had this year and it just feels great. It was a huge team effort and it took everyone to pull this out.”

Sable Staller had 23 digs, 16 kills and six blocks to lead the Panthers. Jessie Meeks had 37 assists, six blocks and 10 digs. Taylor Ruch had 14 digs and 10 kills. Nicole Rogers had seven digs, 11 kills, and 13 blocks (four solo, nine assisted). Taylor Young had nine digs and four kills. And Amanda Kingsolver had six digs.

Girls Golf

Northwestern 180, Kokomo 184

Northwestern bunched its scores to edge Kokomo on the front nine at the Kokomo Country Club. Peyton Hite shot 43 to lead the Tigers, Jillian Hungate and Libby Hansen each shot 45 and Olivia McClure added a 47.

Kylie Kern of Kokomo was the medalist with a 41. Also for the Kats, MaryKate Balsbaugh shot 45, Eileen Oaks shot 47, and Lexi Laird shot 51.

“I thought with the conditions the way they were, Northwestern played a really consistent game,” Kokomo coach Andy Carpenter said. “We did have some good rounds from a couple kids, but we lost a little bit of focus. We just need to refocus and start getting consistent again.”

Northwestern improved to 7-4. Kokomo is 2-2.

No. 19 Western 170, Peru 199, Eastern 227, Southwood 243

Allison Lindley continued her steady play, carding a one-over 37 to lead the Panthers to a four-way victory at Chippendale.

Sibil Gill (42), Courtnee Cossell (43) and Laura Christopher (48) completed the Western scorecard.

“Lindley had a very good score, considering it rained on us a little bit,” Western coach Steve Hoppes said. “But, the biggest thing of the night was Laura Christopher. We’ve been waiting for a good fourth score all year long, and that was her personal best, and the first time she’s broken 50. She played very smart golf, and for a girl who picked up golf in middle of the summer, that’s a great score. We were very excited for her.”

Jessie Eckerley and Lauren Fields both fired 44s to lead the Bengal Tigers to a second place showing. Ariel Edwards added a 53 for Peru, and Lauren Conner carded a 58.

Eastern’s top four players were Kaylee Kingseed (45), Katie McKinney (48), Cathy Grider (63) and Jackie Johnson (71).

Western, which is ranked No. 19 in the latest Indiana High School Golf Coaches Association poll, will take part in the Hall of Fame tournament Saturday at Battle Ground G.C. in Lafayette.

Taylor 185, Tipton 192, Maconaquah 196

Taylor’s Amy Lipchik and Emily Boyd, and Jennifer Dozel of Maconaquah tied for medalist with 44s on the front nine at Peru Municipal.

Also for the Titans, Vicky Saul shot 48 and Caitlyn Marler shot 49 as the squad improved to 5-4.

“That’s our best score of the year for nine holes,” Taylor coach George Phares said. He noted that for “Caitlyn Marler, that’s her career best, the first time she’s ever broken 50.

“[Wednesday] was a rainy, windy day and I thought all three teams, the kids played very well. Our kids, this is the first time we’ve had four in the 40s in I can’t remember how long. Right now, we’re becoming very consistent with our scores. The other thing we’ve done a great job with is we’ve been scrambling very well to get some scores. They are learning how to score and that’s been very gratifying.”

Lela Crawford led Tipton with a 45, Shelbi Broughton shot 47, Jordan Mahaney shot 48 and Sam Langley shot 52.

For the Braves, Chloe Radel shot 48, Katelyn Turcheck shot 49, and Trisha Youngblood shot 55.

Boys soccer

Northwestern 2, Western 0

The teams played to a scoreless tie in the first half, and the Tigers got second half goals from Dalton Smallwood and Derek Miller to emerge victorious.

Brett Galloway picked up an assist on Miller’s goal.

Kyle Smith had four saves in goal for Northwestern, which improved to 4-1-1 on the season, 2-0 in MIC play.

“The defense had another great outing for us with Kyle only having four saves,” Northwestern coach Jim Wagner said. “Western dominated midfield play at the beginning of the game. They are a very good passing team, and we seemed to come out slow again, but starting playing much stronger as the match went on.

“Derek Miller came off the bench to get the second goal for us to seal it, and that was huge.”

Taylor 2, Tipton 2

Down 2-0, Taylor battled back for a draw on its home field. Ben Akers scored both of the Titans’ goals, on assists from Spencer McQueary,

“Akers and McQueary connected really well,” Taylor coach Mike Shane said. “[Akers’ goals] were both on throw-ins — great throws from McQueary to Akers in the box and he headed them in.”

Shane credited his squad for fighting back, praising goalkeeper Seth Stockdell for playing “the best game he has played all season.” Stockdell had six saves.

Taylor is 2-3-1.

GIRLS SOCCER

Eastern 3, Muncie Burris 0

Zoe Wolfe had a goal and assisted on both others to lead the host Comets. Savannah Rees and Sarah Klemmensen each scored once. Vanessa Dove had two saves as the Comets improved to 5-0.

“This game for six years now has always been the day after Northwestern, so it’s always an uphill battle even before we get there. We’re sore, we’re tired, we’re cramped up,” Eastern coach Kevin Duggins said.

He was happy that the Comets were able to play to their strengths, not getting lured into an aggressive, high-energy game that would have been difficult the day after beating the Tigers.

“Muncie Burris has always been able to give us adequate pressure and put the big ball up field and generate attacks, and they did [Wednesday],” he said. “We were able to get good possession and play smart with the ball.”

Taylor 4, Peru 1

Amber Doehrman scored twice and had an assist for the Titans, and Lesly Winburn and Courtney Schroeder each netted once in the road win. Cammie Mosier had eight saves, and Emily Dill had one. Taylor improved to 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the MIC.

“We jumped out to a good early lead. We were passing the ball and working together really well,” Taylor coach John Piotrowicz said. “We just had a good overall effort from everybody. We have a lot of girls that are improving and we still have some more conference games to go this season, and we want to make sure we’re ready for those upcoming games.”