HANCOCK COUNTY — Postseason paths were determined Sunday and Monday, by the IHSAA, for high school boys and girls soccer teams and boys tennis teams.
In an annual pairings webcast from the state’s sanctioning body, soccer tournament draws were announced Sunday evening while tennis selections were released Monday.
Tennis tournaments are the first to get underway today.
All four Hancock County teams will converge to Mt. Vernon High School for Sectional 30.
Eastern Hancock will take on the host Mt. Vernon and New Palestine will face Greenfield-Central. Both matches begin at 4:30 p.m.
The championship contest is Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
Greenfield-Central is the defending sectional champion. New Palestine was this year’s county champion and Mt. Vernon is coming off clinching the outright title for the Hoosier Heritage Conference on Monday.
The Marauders have beaten both Greenfield-Central and New Palestine in dual matches this season. Eastern Hancock’s only dual match against a county opponent was an opening-season loss to the Dragons. The Royals were runners-up to the Dragons in the county tournament. New Palestine beat Greenfield-Central in a dual during the regular season.
While the tennis tournament has all four county schools at the same venue, the IHSAA decided in its reconfiguring of soccer tournaments for 2024 and 2025 to split the three soccer-playing county schools.
On the girls side, Mt. Vernon will now play in loaded seven-team Class 3A Sectional 8 at Noblesville. Greenfield-Central and New Palestine remain in Class 3A Sectional 12, a five-teamer hosted by New Palestine.
The Marauders are one of four state-ranked teams playing in the tournament that gets underway Oct. 8 with Anderson taking on second-ranked, defending state champion Noblesville.
On Oct. 9, Pendleton Heights faces Muncie Central and No. 1 Hamilton Southeastern meets rival No. 20 Fishers.
The Marauders, ranked No. 19, drew the tournament bye and will play Oct. 10 at 5:30 p.m. against the winner of the Anderson-Noblesville matchup. The championship is slated for Saturday, Oct. 12 at 2 p.m.
At New Palestine, Greenfield-Central and New Palestine drew byes into the semifinal. The lone first-round/quarterfinal match is Oct. 8 at 6 p.m. with No. 13 East Central taking on Richmond.
On Oct. 10 at 5 p.m., Greenfield-Central faces Shelbyville, a team it beat 5-0 on Sept. 25. New Palestine will play right after the Cougars at 7 p.m. against the winner of the Oct. 8 match between East Central and Richmond.
The championship match is Saturday, Oct. 12 at 2 p.m.
On the boys side, Mt. Vernon will play in 3A Sectional 8 at Hamilton Southeastern. New Palestine and Greenfield-Central head south to play in 3A Sectional 12 at Perry Meridian.
Greenfield-Central’s boys team is the first soccer team to begin postseason play with an Oct. 7 contest against Greenwood at 7:30 p.m.
On Oct. 8 at Perry, Roncalli faces Southport and Franklin Central takes on host Perry Meridian.
New Palestine earned the bye in the seven-team field. The Dragons play Oct. 9 at 5:30 p.m. against the winner of Greenwood and Greenfield-Central.
The Dragons played the Woodmen and Cougars in back-to-back matches last month, losing 2-1 against Greenwood on Sept. 17 and beating Greenfield-Central 3-1 on Sept. 19.
The championship match is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m.
Two of the seven teams in the Hamilton Southeastern Sectional are state ranked.
That tournament gets underway on Oct. 7 with Anderson facing Richmond. On Oct. 8, in a pair of quarterfinal matches, Pendleton Heights takes on No. 2 Hamilton Southeastern at 5:30 p.m. Mt. Vernon will follow with a match against Muncie Central.
On Oct. 9, the first of two semifinals has No. 7 Fishers against the Anderson-Richmond winner. The second semifinal pits the Pendleton Heights-HSE victor against the survivor of the Mt. Vernon-Muncie Central game. The final is Saturday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m.
