By Garth Shanklin
Sports Editor

Girls’ tennis players from all across Clermont County made the trip north to Blanchester to take part in the 2016 Blanchester Invitational on Aug. 20 and 24.

While rain didn’t allow the tournament to finish, several local athletes find themselves in the semifinals of their respective brackets.

In singles’ play, Clermont Northeastern’s Amber Rossmann defeated Batavia’s Megan Wallace 6-7 (2), 6-1, [10-6]. Teammate Elizabeth Glancy fell to Western Brown’s Becca Caroll 6-1 and 6-3.

Carroll then defeated Batavia’s Paige Strassel 6-0, 6-7 (5), [10-2] to advance to the quarterfinals, where she faced New Richmond’s Krista Reid. Reid earned a straight-set 6-0 and 6-3 victory over Rossmann. Reid defeated Carroll 6-3 and 6-0 to advance to the semifinals.

Lower in the bracket, Bethel-Tate’s Alyssa Barnhouse defeated Amelia’s Jessica Hansel 6-0 and 6-2 in her first match but dropped a 7-5, 6-0 decision to Blanchester’s Brooke Honaker in her second contest. Another Lady Wildcat, Megan Weber, earned a 6-2, 6-1 win over Amelia’s Kelsey Bose. Weber then lost to Goshen’s Savannah Deuer 7-5 and 6-3. Honaker advanced to the semifinals against Reid with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Deuer.

Batavia’s Sarah Farris drew a bye in the first round, but dropped her first match to Western Brown’s Kasi Boyd 6-0 and 6-0. New Richmond’s Taylor Cardarelli defeated another Lady Bronco, Hanna Young, 4-6, 6-1 [12-10] to advance to face Boyd. Cardarelli then eliminated Boyd in straight sets to advance to the semifinals, where she will face Amelia’s Molly Stockton.

Bethel-Tate’s Tori Burkitt slipped past Goshen’s Mary Price 4-6, 6-1 [12-10] to set up a match with Stockton, which the Lady Baron won 6-2, 6-1. Blanchester’s Emily Speakman defeated Goshen’s Margarita Lawson 6-0, 6-1 and Bethel-Tate’s Kara Partin 6-3, 6-2 to set up a quarterfinal bout against Stockton. Stockton won with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 result.

In doubles play, New Richmond’s team of Lily Cahall and Maria Steinmetz advanced to the semifinals with two straight-set wins over teams from Western Brown and Clermont Northeastern.

The other Clermont County team in the doubles’ semifinals comes from Goshen, where Sami Huhn and Kassandra Palafox defeated teams from Amelia and Blanchester earlier in the tournament.

As of this writing, no date for the completion of the tournament has been announced.

This tournament is an excellent chance to get a look at tennis teams from across the area, some of whom are experiencing some changes in 2016.

Batavia, for instance, finds themselves without Olivia Moon this year. Head coach Thomas Smith begins his second season at the helm of the Lady Bulldogs in 2016 and said the team was not as consistent as he would have liked last season.

“Personally, the 2015 season was a learning experience for me as a first-year coach,” Smith said. “Our season was a little inconsistent as a team, but a great experience for our players.”

The loss of Moon at the number one singles position has a ripple effect throughout the team, starting with leadership.

“[Moon] brought leadership and stability,” Smith said. “She was a role model for our younger players and her success was derived from a combination of things. Her experience, work ethic and attitude really helped her excel last year.”

With her departure, along with the departure of second-team all-conference award winner Tommie Shearer, the Lady Bulldogs have had to do a bit of shuffling in 2016.

“Everyone is in new roles,” Smith said. “We have three freshman and three juniors. We’re actually a player short to complete a full roster. With the start of the school year, I hope to recruit a few more players.”

Batavia’s first match of the season came against Goshen, which was the first time four of the Lady Bulldogs had ever participated in a contest at the high school level.

Coach Smith still has high expectations for those younger players, adding he expects Strassel to grow this season.

“I’m expecting Strassel to make big strides as our number one singles player this year,” Smith said. “She has shown a great work ethic and has a tremendous attitude. We have several newcomers that show promise, including Megan Wallace, Erin Turner, Cheni Shelton and Sam Roberts. Sarah Farris is also switching from our doubles player to our number two singles player.”

Goshen, meanwhile, expects to contend for a Southern Buckeye Academic and Athletic Conference title in 2016 after a 2015 campaign that was head coach Bryce Blanton’s first with the Lady Warriors.

Goshen had two returning varsity players in the 2015 season and it was my first year taking over the girls program,” Blanton said. “It was a year to build the fundamentals and work toward establishing a program that would compete at a high level every year. The girls learned a lot and became strong tennis players. During the year the players had great chemistry and an environment of competitive, team-centered play.”

The team’s lone senior in 2015, Amber Wolfe, earned first-team all-conference honors while junior Regan Cravens was named to the second team. Blanton said he had high expectations for Cravens coming into 2016.

After losing Amber to graduation last year, [Cravens] had big shoes to fill,” Blanton said. “She has not disappointed, being dedicated to the program throughout the summer and improving her game. She has grown so much as a player and a person. I’m fortunate to have seniors two years in a row that are the perfect role models for my underclassmen in the program. I think her hard work will pay off, she’ll have a successful campaign her senior year.”

With so few players returning to last season’s team, the 2016 Goshen squad is full of experienced players, and Blanton says he expects them to compete in the league this year.

“Last year was for growth, and this year we are expecting to be much more competitive in and out of the league,” Blanton said. “Sophomore Caroline Clifton will be first singles this year. She’s established herself as a strong tennis talent. Fellow sophomore Kelsey Salmons will be responsible for second singles this year after playing first doubles last year.”

Blanton also mentioned the team’s character, saying the team is creating a culture that has helped boost interest in the program. The team will field a junior varsity squad this year and will list 17 players on their roster, eight of whom have varsity experience.

“I know the girls’ play on the court will speak for itself, but I cannot begin to give enough credit to the high character that this team has and is a testament to the program they’re creating,” Blanton said. “The environment has carried over from last year without skipping a beat. There is a lot of excitement for the program, and it’s well justified.”

New Richmond, meanwhile, placed second in the SBAAC last season and will return seven varsity players this year. Head coach Terri Flamm said she expects the team to have another winning season in 2016, and added the team’s goal is to win the conference title.