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Powerful Olympians roll through Shelbyville</h1>
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Shelbyville tennis player Christina Douglass hits a return shot during the No. 1 doubles match against Columbus East Tuesday in Shelbyville. (Warren Robison photo)</td>
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By Ross Flint<br />
Staff writer</h5>
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Published: <span class="timestamp">Thursday, April 11, 2013 7:07 AM US/eastern</span></div>
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<span class="Bodycopy">The Shelbyville girls’ tennis team knows it has a learning curve as the 2013 season gets underway.</span><br />
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<span class="Bodycopy">The Golden Bears also know there will be bumps along the way, and one of those bumps came against No. 25 Columbus East, which beat Shelbyville 5-0 Tuesday on the Golden Bears’ home courts.</span><br />
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<span class="Bodycopy">The Olympians, coming off a win against city-rival Columbus North Monday night, swept past the inexperienced Golden Bears (1-1), which are also making up for time lost practice-wise because of the chilly early-spring weather.</span><br />
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<span class="Bodycopy">Coming off a season-opening 5-0 win against Triton Central the previous day, the Golden Bears knew the challenge that awaited Tuesday.</span><br />
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<span class="Bodycopy">“I think this (Columbus East) is the team to beat in the area,” coach Basem Shammas said after his team’s loss.</span><br />
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<span class="Bodycopy">Shelbyville senior Monica Cooper, who is still adjusting to moving up to No. 1 singles, lost to Ashlee Hasson 6-1, 6-1.</span><br />
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<span class="Bodycopy">Junior Maddie Clark, who has moved up from No. 3 singles a year ago to No. 2 this season lost to Megan Gaile, 6-0, 6-1.</span><br />
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<span class="Bodycopy">And freshman Bri Ayers lost to Risa Minero, 6-1, 6-4 at No. 3 singles.</span><br />
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<span class="Bodycopy">“We knew this was going to be a tough match,” Shammas said. “This (Columbus East) is a pretty tough team.”</span><br />
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<span class="Bodycopy">So tough that the Olympians, which started the season unranked, worked their way into the rankings in the second Indiana High School Tennis Coaches Association poll. Columbus East is made up primarily of seniors and juniors on its varsity team this season and beat the always-tough Bull Dogs for the first time in 10 years, Shammas said.</span><br />
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<span class="Bodycopy">In addition to losing top singles player Jordan Wise, the Golden Bears also lost its top doubles duo in Meghan Thornburg and Paige Durphey.</span><br />
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<span class="Bodycopy">Taking over are sophomores Christina Douglass and Marena Drake, who have moved up from No. 2 doubles. They lost to Lauren Champion and Alexa Husman, 6-0, 6-3 on Tuesday.</span><br />
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<span class="Bodycopy">The current No. 2 team of senior Emma Norton and junior Cortney Pearce lost to Amanda Sun and Amanda Hashimoto, 6-1, 6-2.</span><br />
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<span class="Bodycopy">“It’s early in the season,” Shammas said, adding he hopes this experience will help prepare his team for the end of the season. “I’m pleased with the way they played. When you play a team like this, it’s going to be rough.”</span><br />
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<span class="Bodycopy">Shelbyville returns to action at 5 p.m. today at Mount Vernon.</span></div>
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Hornets
