MUNSTER | The Munster boys tennis team hopes it's time to replay the tape. Crown Point hopes to film a different ending.
The Times No. 1 Mustangs and the No. 3 Bulldogs advanced to the Munster Regional finals with decisive wins Tuesday in the semifinal round.
Munster (14-1) defeated Merrillville 4-1, and Crown Point (16-3) beat Morton 5-0.
It's the fourth consecutive trip to the regional final for Crown Point. This will be the third time the Bulldogs have faced Munster, and Crown Point still is looking for a victory.
The Mustangs won at every position except No. 1 singles. Leonard Mathews, of Merrillville, defeated Jack Heiniger 7-5, 6-1 for the Pirates' only point.
"We have focused all year on constant improvement," Merrillville coach James Simon said. "Winning sectional was good, but the most important part was how well we played as a team. Even though we lost today, we did well and did our school proud."
Munster got the winning point when its No. 1 doubles team of Ryan Heuer and Michael Kitchell won 6-2, 6-0.
"We played a lot better today than we did over the weekend," Heuer said. "Our play Saturday was very uninspiring. We had some great workouts in between, and we came back today with more confidence."
The Bulldogs won in straight sets across the board, the third point coming from the No. 2 doubles team of Jon Maginot and Chris Dietrich.
"We stayed away from unforced errors today," Maginot said. "We stayed aggressive and played the net well. It felt good to deliver the winning point for the team."
Morton coach Chuck Perez was impressed with the success of his Governors (9-4) this season.
"Nine seniors graduated last year," Perez said, "and we had no one returning with any varsity experience. But we learned and improved as a team and kept getting better as the year progressed. We made it to the regional, and I'd say that was a great year."
Munster and Crown Point will play at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, and the will play Saturday in the Culver Semistate.
"Maybe we can write a different ending this time," Crown Point coach Chris Korzeniewski said.
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