South Bend Tribune

LEWIS BAGLEY

Munster is still looming large over the northwestern girls tennis semistate.

For the fourth straight year and the fifth time in six seasons, the Mustangs are heading to the state finals after beating St. Joseph’s, 4-1, Saturday in the LaPorte semistate title match at Kesling Park.

St. Joseph’s, which advanced to the title match with a 5-0 win over NorthWood in the morning semifinal, gave the champs all it had — even leading on three courts at one point — but couldn’t hold on.

“Munster will always loom large,” Indians coach Bill Mountford said. “If we are able to get out of our regional, Munster will be here.

“We had success this year and got a taste of being at the top, but Munster is a great program.”

St. Joseph’s finishes 17-2, with both losses coming to Munster, which moves on to the state finals in Indianapolis Saturday to meet top-ranked Park Tudor in one semifinal.

The news wasn’t all bad for the Indians, however. Their win came at No. 1 doubles as Bridget Veldman and Elle Harding took a 7-6 (5), 6-4 win over Rachael Heiniger and Christina Kovacich.

Veldman and Harding, 30-1 and still unbeaten in tournament play, head to the individual state doubles tournament at Indianapolis North Central on June 12.

“Bridget and Elle would be first singles players at a lot of other schools,” Mountford said, “but they work very well together. They understand their roles and play them well.”

Munster — which beat Valparaiso, 5-0, in its semifinal — won its four matches in straight sets.

St. Joe’s Alaina Roberts, just a freshman, played well at No. 1 singles against Munster senior Mary Hill, but fell 6-4, 6-3. Hill has lost just one match in her four-year career.

Second singles Jessi Rink had an early 2-1 lead on Bobbi Modesto before Modesto rallied for a 6-3, 6-3 win.

At third singles, St. Joe’s Abby Watkins led, 5-4, in the second set before falling to Christina Lee, 6-3, 7-5.

At two doubles, Vanessa Sepiol and Kamryn Klawitter took out Indians duo Darby Mountford and Michele Fredlake, 6-3, 6-4.

“I thought we were the favorite coming in,” Munster coach Bob Modesto said, “but you never know. St. Joseph’s is going to be a force in the future.”

While St. Joe had no problem with NorthWood in the semifinal, it didn’t dampen the mood of the Panthers or coach Tif Schwartz.

NorthWood (15-4) avenged regular season losses to Fairfield in the sectional tournament, and Northridge and Warsaw in the regional to earn its first-ever berth in the semistate.

St. Joseph’s won all five matches in straight sets Saturday morning, losing only 12 games in the process.

“We’ve never been here and we may have been a little shellshocked,” Schwartz admitted, “but it’s been a great season. We have a lot of two- and three-sport athletes on this team and they know never to give up. That helped us turn around those earlier losses to get here.

“It’s been a great season for us.”