ANDERSON — For the second straight time, the Highland tennis team managed a 5-0 whitewash over Anderson.

The matchup was supposed to happen last week in the Madison County Tournament, but rain and the Alexandria Tigers intervened, so the regular season contest at Highland Wednesday was the first meeting since the Scots won the sectional title 5-0 over the Tribe last season.

“They just played a lot better than we did,” said Anderson coach Bill Thomas. “Their girls are more confident. Highland is a very, very good team. Hopefully, we can close the gap on them before sectional.”

Highland’s only set loss came at No. 2 singles, where Highland’s Mercy Scott prevailed over Megan Ellis 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.

The highly anticipated matchup at No. 1 singles between Highland’s Alex Hammel and Anderson’s Alisha Cummings didn’t disappoint. They battled through many long points by Hammel won the first set 7-5.

“She won the first game and got off to a good start,” said Hammel. “But then I calmed down and started concentrating on each point by point. Once I got the first set over with, I just told myself I just had six more games to win.”

There was a very brisk wind blowing from the south, which meant it was either directly behind the players or directly into their faces.

“At one end (with the wind behind her) I sliced the ball more,” said Hammel. “I was careful not to overswing because it would sail on me. At the other end, it was easier to serve. I liked that end the best actually.”

“We’ve had bad, windy days,” said Highland coach Jim Hostetler. “We just try to make the wind our ally. We just accept it and know where it was.”

At No. 3 singles, Abbe Beard stopped Brittany Woschitz 6-1, 6-4.

The Scots won both doubles matches. Ashley Allison and Kelsey McFadden won at No. 1 6-2, 6-0 over Alex Thanos and Taylor Wilson. At No. 2 Alaina Copeland and Emily Jones teamed to defeat Ellen Beyer and Marisa Woschitz 6-3, 6-0.

“Brittany (Woschitz) played well at No. 3,” said Thomas. “It was only her second match at singles. Our No. 1 doubles team has a fragile serve, and the wind probably hurt us more than it did their team.”

The Tribe drops to 2-2 with the loss.

“They are a solid team,” said Hostetler of the Indians. “I think we had stronger depth and experience. I knew both of the top two singles matches would be dogfights. All four are excellent players. If we meet them again in the sectional, we’ll start all over again.”

The Scots went to 6-0 with the win. They immediately took on Frankton right after the match with Anderson for a berth in the Madison County Tournament title match.