Bloomington South's Santer, Walker empty tank at girls' tennis regional
It was a win and maybe a loss at the same time.
Bloomington South's Maddie Santer and Riley Walker had to work nearly three hours to finally rally and finish off Providence's Ally Gray and Reece Carver, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals of the Bedford North Lawrence girls' tennis doubles regional on Saturday morning.
Just an hour or so later, their batteries hadn't fully recharged and Evansville Mater Dei's Kelly Blair and Chrissy Marx took advantage with a 6-0, 6-1 to advance to the state finals.
"They fought really hard," South coach Gretchen Wertzman said. "It was very hot. It just didn't seem like they had enough left."
Electric or gas powered vehicle analogy, take your pick, the horsepower just wasn't there.
"They just didn't didn't have enough in the tank," Wertzman said. "Maybe something to work on in the off season. They finished 16-5 and I'm really proud of them."
Not much separated the two squads the entire way in the semi, but Santner and Walker were just a bit more clutch when it counted most.
"They were in every game," Wertzman said. "They just played better on the bigger points. They executed better and played a little more aggressive and they followed the strategy well enough to get the win."
Both will be back next year.
"They really just started playing together and knowing each other' strengths," Wertzman said. "Riley is tough at the net and Maddie is good at setting her up.
"Riley (who also plays volleyball) has improved so much since the season started three months ago. They make a good team."
O'Neal ousted
In singles play, sophomore Briah O'Neal ran into one of the state's best, freshmen or otherwise, in Riley Trinkle of Providence, who rolled, 6-0, 6-0 to remain undefeated this season.
"That girl is at another level," Wertzman said. "She hits a bigger ball, she moved better. You have to put in a lot of work to get to that level."
Trinkle's older sister Holli was the state champ in 2018 and state runner-up in 2019 before becoming one of the top players at the College of Charleston.
But any lessons or further work O'Neal and sister Taylor will put in will be in someone else's hands, with the family moving to Indianapolis. The O'Neals will be playing for Lawrence North next season.
Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington South's Santer, Walker empty tank at girls' tennis regional
