Kingsmen lay claim to regional tennis title; road ahead is rough
Penn boys tennis coach Eric Bowers did not expect a letdown from his team Wednesday night.
There was definitely no let up in the Kingsmen either as they claimed a regional title in impressive fashion.
Penn, ranked No. 28 in the final coaches poll, topped Chesterton 5-0 to claim the LaPorte Regional title at Kesling Park.
The win, which came a night after a long and emotional 3-2 win over rival Saint Joseph, gives the Kingsmen the program's 13th regional title and first since 2018.
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Penn, now 18-2, advances to the Culver Academy Semistate Saturday to face either No. 1 West Lafayette Harrison or No. 2 and defending state champion Carmel at noon.
Bowers, whose team returned five of its top players from last year's squad that lost to St. Joe in the regional final, was happy to see his senior group get a regional title.
"I'm just super proud of this team," said Bowers, whose lineup includes three seniors. "These guys have worked hard for this. It's a good one to get. It's been a long time coming.
"We knew after Tuesday night's win over St. Joe the job was not done. Chesterton came out tonight and fought hard. They won the first set at three of the five spots. They wanted this title too and I respect their players and their coach.
"My guys just fought back. We knew this season when we were healthy that we had a really good team. We are going to enjoy every minute of this."
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Penn took a quick 2-0 lead as Petter Klasson won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 singles and sophomore Chris Chen rolled to a 6-0, 6-4 win at No. 1 singles. Klasson, an exchange student from Sweden, fought through a back injury this season.
The Kingsmen clinched the title as senior David Bao and freshman Quinn Lippert won 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 on the No. 2 doubles court.
Penn, which beat Chesterton 4-1 during the regular season, closed out the stellar showing with a shutout. Seniors Eli Deitchley and Jeffrey Bao won in three sets at No. 1 doubles and sophomore Evan Knapp won in three sets at No. 3 singles.
The Kingsmen lost the first sets at both doubles spots and No. 3 singles before rallying in impressive fashion.
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"I'm happy that our three senior captains got this championship," added Bowers. "I'm going to look back on this group when this is all over with a lot of good memories."
At Concord
Goshen just keeps on winning.
The RedHawks topped league foe Northridge 5-0 to win the Concord Regional title.
Goshen, now 23-0, earns the program's eighth regional crown and first since 2015. They advance to the Homestead Semistate Saturday at 10 a.m. to play either No. 8 North Central or Heritage Christian.
The RedHawks, who beat Northridge 4-1 in an NLC regular season clash, won four of its matches in straight sets. Pi Wellington led the way with a 6-4, 6-4 win on the No. 1 singles court.
Northridge finishes at 17-3.
LaPorte Regional
Penn 5, Chesterton 0
Singles: 1. Chris Chen beat Fabio Haiduc 6-0, 6-4. 2. Petter Klasson beat Brock Redman 6-2, 6-1. 3. Evan Knapp beat Jai Barath 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.
Doubles: 1. Eli Deitchley/Jeffrey Bao beat Connor Engels/Luke Sorgie 6-7, 6-2, 6-4. 2. Quinn Lippert/David Bao beat Ian Condes/Alex Henderson 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Concord Regional
Goshen 5, Northridge 0
Singles: 1. Pi Wellington beat Brendan LaCounte 6-4, 6-4. 2. Moses Sawatzky beat Brandon Lomas 3-6, 7-5, 6-1. 3. Isaac Stahly beat Elijah Shell 6-2, 6-2.
Doubles: 1. Myles McLaughlin/Joel Byler beat Mason Martin/Nolan Mellott 6-4, 6-4. 2. Moses Kratzer/Kyan Miller beat Kaleb Ellis/Zak Martin 6-3, 6-0.
Culver Academy Regional
Culver Academy 4, Peru 1
Singles: 1. Tyler Li (CMA) beat Ian Potts 6-0, 6-0; 2. Ben Beckman (P) beat Diego Rosique 6-0, 6-1; 3. Peter Bilicic (CMA) beat Gavin Eldridge 6-3, 6-1.
Doubles: 1. Samuel Meares/Dominic Hayden (CMA) beat Jackson Bowell/Lucas Slagel 6-0, 6-0; 2. William Tullis/John Allen (CMA) beat Jacob Boswell/Jayleb Walsh 6-1, 6-0.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: High school tenns: Penn wins LaPorte Regional, advances to semistate
