Roundup: Penn outlasts Saint Joseph in boys tennis regional thriller at LaPorte
The Penn boys tennis team had one happy, noisy bus ride home Tuesday night after an impressive postseason performance worthy of celebrating.
The Kingsmen also made sure to make it a celebratory ride back from LaPorte after putting together an impressive postseason performance worthy of that postmatch celebration.
The Kingsmen outlasted rival Saint Joseph, 3-2, in a marathon semifinal match of the LaPorte Regional at Kesling Park.
The No. 28 Kingsmen, who lost to No. 19 Saint Joseph 3-2 last month in an NIC match, advances to play Chesterton Wednesday night for the regional title back at Kesling Park at 5:30 p.m. ET. The winner advances to the Culver Academy Semistate Saturday at noon.
Penn, now 17-2, beat Chesterton 4-1 during the regular season. Chesterton blanked host LaPorte 5-0 in the other semifinal round Tuesday night.
Saint Joseph, which beat Penn 5-0 in last year's regional final, finishes at 17-5.
More:With postseason in the air, it's all about the team for Saint Joseph tennis
"I give our kids 100 percent of the credit for this win," said longtime Penn coach Eric Bowers during a phone interview. "They all wanted this bad. Our seniors had never beaten Saint Joe.
"To see the happiness on our kids faces afterward reminded me why I do this. This is one of my favorite wins. ... I did not breathe easy until we got that third point."
The Kingsmen, who altered their lineup since the loss to Saint Joseph back on Sept. 6, clinched the match as Petter Klasson won 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 at No. 2 singles over junior Colin Blumentritt to make it 3-0. Klasson, an exchange student from Sweden, had lost to Blumentritt in three sets in their regular season match. Klasson had played in that match with an injured back.
Penn took a 2-0 lead Tuesday as sophomore Chris Chen beat senior Davis Borders 6-2, 6-0 on the No. 1 singles court and senior David Bao and Quinn Lippert topped seniors Will Barnes and Jake Gaul 6-0, 6-1 at No. 2 doubles.
That's when it got interesting thanks to a gutty Saint Joseph squad that rallied to win the second sets at No. 2 and No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles.
Tennis notebook: Experienced Kingsmen looking good early on
Penn earned the team win, however, as Klasson won the third set, 6-2.
Saint Joseph showed its mettle in the over three-hour match with two comeback wins. Junior Will Westberry rallied past sophomore Evan Knapp 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 at No. 3 singles while the No. 1 doubles team of sophomore Jake Westberry and freshman Luke Blumentritt beat seniors Eli Deitchley and Jeffery Bao 6-7, 6-2, 6-4.
"This is one of the best team efforts we have had this season," said longtime Saint Joseph coach Steve Bender, the program's all time winningest coach. "... I thought we were going home early when we lost the first set on all five courts. But we settled down and played and were right there with a shot to win it. Klasson was just too strong and too consistent. Give him credit. He played well for Penn."
Bowers altered his lineup from the first meeting by switching Bao from No. 3 singles to No. 2 doubles to trade places with Knapp.
Saint Joseph beat Penn 3-2 last month with three set wins at No. 2 and 3 singles and a win at No. 1 doubles. St. Joe edged out Penn 60-59 to win the NIC tournament title too.
Saint Joseph graduated its top two players from last year's team that beat Penn 5-0 in the regional final. The duo of Daniel Pries and Kyle Fernandez were both All-State last year and Pries was a three-time NIC MVP and three-time state qualifier. The pair combined to go 200-14 in their four-year careers.
Bender's team made its own mark this season, despite the gut-wrenching end to it.
"Where this team came from when we started back in June is incredible," Bender said. "They ended up being ranked higher in the district (at number one) than last year's team was. They were a true team."
At Concord
It will be an all Northern Lakes Conference regional finale at Concord come Wednesday evening.
Undefeated Goshen continued its roll with a 5-0 win over DeKalb and fellow league member Northridge topped Westview 3-2 in semifinal play.
No. 18 Goshen lost just one set in topping the Barons. The No. 2 doubles duo of Moses Kratzer and Kyan Miller led the win with a 6-1, 6-0 victory.
Northridge was led by Brandon Lomas, who won in straight sets at No. 2 singles play.
Goshen meets Northridge back at Concord at 5 p.m. Wednesday for the regional title and a spot in the Homestead Semistate on Saturday.
At Culver Academy
Bremen saw a stellar season end with a 5-0 semifinal loss to Peru. The Lions had claimed regional titles each of the past two seasons.
Peru advances to play host Culver Academy in the regional final at 5 p.m. Wednesday. The winner returns to Culver Academy Saturday for the semistate.
LaPorte Regional
Penn 3, Saint Joseph 2:
Singles: 1. Chris Chen (P) beat Davis Borders 6-2, 6-0. 2. Petter Klasson (P) beat Colin Blumentritt 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. 3. Will Westberry (SJ) beat Evan Knapp 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Doubles: 1. Jake Westberry/Luke Blumentritt (SJ) beat Eli Deitchley/Jeffery Bao 6-7, 6-2, 6-4. 2. David Bao/Quinn Lippert (P) beat Will Barnes/Jake Gaul 6-0, 6-1.
Chesterton 5, LaPorte 0
Singles: 1. Fabio Haidue beat Ethan Wilmsen 7-6, 6-4. 2. Brock Redman beat Ravi Pillai 6-1, 6-2. 3. Jai Barath beat Drew Bush 6-1, 6-0.
Doubles: 1. Connor Engels/Luke Sorgie beat Travis Chalik/Brock Schultz 6-1, 6-1. 2. Ian Condes/Alex Henderson beat Aiden Mrozinski/Evan Hough 6-2, 6-0.
Concord Regional
Goshen 5, DeKalb 0
Singles: 1. Pi Wellington beat Owen Holwerda 6-2, 7-5. 2. Moses Sawatzky beat Wyatt Derrow 6-3, 6-4. 3. Isaac Stahly beat Grant Stuckey 6-2, 6-1.
Doubles: 1. Myles McLaughlin/Joel Byler beat Elijah Ehmke/Kieter Nagel 6-4, 6-7, 6-0. 2. Moses Kratzer/Kyan Miller beat Matthew Beckman/Grant Fetter 6-1, 6-0.
Northridge 3, Westview 2
Singles: 1. Isaiah Hostetler (W) beat Brendan LaCounte 6-7, 6-3, 7-6. 2. Brandon Lomas (N) beat Jethro Hostetler 7-5, 6-3. 3. Kylen Bender (W) beat Elijah Shell 6-4, 6-2.
Doubles: 1. Mason Martin/Nolan Mellott (N) beat Cole Mast/Mason Clark 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. 2. Kaleb Ellis/Zak Martin (N) beat Dawson Schrock/Gavin Engle 6-0, 6-0.
Culver Academy Regional
Culver Academy 4, Columbia City 1
Singles: 1. Tyler Li (CMA) beat Alexander Rongos (CC) 6-2, 6-0; 2. Tobey Krider (CC) beat Diego Rosique (CMA) 7-6, 6-7, 6-3; 3. Peter Bilicic (CMA) beat Sam Bechtold (CC) 6-1, 6-2.
Doubles: 1. Samuel Meares/Dominic Hayden (CMA) beat Rhet Wilson/Ben Kuhmichel (CC) 6-1, 6-0; 2. William Tullis/John Allen (CMA) beat Andrew Hedrick/Sam Eberly (CC) 6-0, 6-1.
Peru 5, Bremen 0
Singles: 1. Ian Potts (P) beat Mariano de Leon (B) 6-2, 6-3; 2. Ben Beckman (P) beat Max Varner (B) 6-1, 6-4; 3. Gavin Eldridge (P) beat Camden Hickman (B) 6-4, 7-6.
Doubles: 1. Jackson Bowell/Lucas Slagel (P) beat Max Barnes/Seth Nettrouer (B) 6-1, 6-1; 2. Jacob Boswell/Jayleb Walsh (P) beat Brock Ginter/Maddux Hickman (B) 6-2, 6-2.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: High school Boys tennis regional roundup: Penn beats Saint Joseph
