Indy Star

 

By Nat Newell

The ball landed outside the IUPUI tennis court early in the second set of Monday's City Tournament No. 1 singles championship and Cathedral High School's Madison Rothberger was directed to the player's entrance in the fence to retrieve it. Instead, she turned her lithe body sideways and slid through an eight-inch gap at the end of the barrier, drawing a laugh from the crowd.

On the court, she made a similar escape . . . only this one drew applause.

After losing the first set, 6-2, to two-time City champion Kelly Fritz of Tech, Rothberger battled back for 6-1 and 6-2 victories to claim the No. 1 singles title and complete a dominant sweep of the event by No. 3 Cathedral.

The Irish won their fifth consecutive championship -- second straight in a sweep -- losing a single set during the tournament. Cathedral finished with 40 points, beating second-place Bishop Chatard (27 points) at the other four positions in the finals.

"Toward the beginning of the second set I started to be like, 'I'm going to do this. I'm going to pull this out,' " said Rothberger, who won the No. 2 singles title the past two years. "Kelly is a great player, (but) I started to pick up my game, found my groove and that's how I pulled it out."

While Fritz was not overly demonstrative, she would pump her fist after a good point and audibly chastise herself for a mistake from time-to-time. Rothberger, however, didn't even seem to open her mouth when coach Mark Noe spoke to her between sets. Her blank expression didn't change from when she was losing the first set to winning the final two, but her game did.

"I'd rather see her smile, but if she gets it done, I don't care," Noe said. "She made adjustments. She slowed the ball down, put less pace on it and more topspin to make (Fritz) think about it more. I've got to give it to Madison for totally changing her game plan (between the first and second sets). Her approach is all business. She's a sweet girl, but she's very stoic. I'm very proud of her."

No. 2 Kate Winningham, No. 3 Paola Usina, No. 1 doubles Cassia Wojtalik and Carlene Eckhart, and No. 2 doubles Elizabeth Whitsett and Megan Adams also won their matches for Cathedral.

 

The Irish open the postseason Thursday in a sectional that includes No. 20 North Central and Bishop Chatard.

"(A City title) rates very high because it's good preparation for the sectional," Noe said. "It's a great way to get going (on the postseason), especially (the No. 1 singles) match. This is a monumental breakthrough for Madison. (Fritz) was someone we thought would give her a great battle and this win is a confidence-booster against the North Centrals and the Carmels and the Park Tudors."

City Tennis Championships

Team scores: Cathedral 40, Bishop Chatard 27, Heritage Christian 15, Tech 9, Covenant Christian 9, Cardinal Ritter 7, Manual 4, Scecina 4, Broad Ripple 1, Northwest 1, Arlington 0.

No. 1 singles: Madison Rothberger (Cath) d. Kelly Fritz (T), 2-6, 6-1, 6-2

No. 2 singles: Kate Winningham (Cath) d. Lauren Paras (BC), 6-1, 6-2

No. 3 singles: Paola Usina (Cath) d. Sarah DeNardin (BC), 6-0, 6-0

No. 1 doubles: Cassia Wojtalik-Carlene Eckhart (Cath) d. Emily Nightingale-Heather O'Brien (BC), 6-1, 6-2

No. 2 doubles: Elizabeth Whitsett-Megan Adams (Cath) d. Angie Monger-Katie Nickol (BC), 7-5, 6-0