LOOGOOTEE — Loogootee and Barr-Reeve advanced to semifinal matches today in the Loogootee tennis sectional with opening round wins on Friday.

The Lady Lions defeated Paoli 5-0 in the opening match, while the Lady Vikings downed White River Valley 5-0 in the second opening round match after play was postponed a day from Thursday due to rain. Loogootee will face North Daviess at 9 a.m. today, followed by Barr-Reeve squaring off against Bloomfield at 10:30 a.m. The championship match is slated for 2 p.m. today.

Against Paoli, Loogootee (13-7) easily won both doubles matches but saw two singles matches go to three sets. At No. 1 doubles, Valerie Wickman and Sarah Allen downed Sara Bruner and Stephanie Dalton 6-1, 6-0, while at No. 2 doubles the Lady Lions’ Chelsea Strange and Ashton Mathews didn’t drop a game in defeating Dara Thorlton and Lacey Brinegar 6-0, 6-0.

Loogootee got a straight set win at No. 3 singles, where Brittney Bateman defeated Katie Kimble 6-3, 6-1. In play at No. 1 singles, Emily Callahan dropped the first set 6-3 to Kyanna Moon before rebounding to take the final two sets 6-4, 6-0. Likewise at No. 2 singles for LHS, Andrea Vaupel fell in the first set to Paoli’s Kalen Terrell 6-4 before winning the final two sets 6-0, 6-0.

“It was nice to get the sectional underway under nearly perfect conditions. Our doubles teams started the match strong and finished strong,” said Loogootee coach Mike Tippery. “We struggled early in all three singles spots, but once we got going, we played well and finished strong.”

Barr-Reeve didn’t drop a single set in downing White River Valley. Kacie James defeated Tasha Borter 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, while Brittney Taylor downed Brooke Braswell 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 singles. Devan Bullock completed the singles sweep with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Erica Lemmons.

At No. 1 doubles, Kylie Sluder and Kristen Knepp defeated Mindie Neeley and Bridgette Wedel 6-2, 6-2, while No. 2 doubles went to Jade Miller and Abby Pielemeier 6-1, 6-1 over Katie Hollen and Kayla Mathews.