LAPORTE | For Chesterton’s girls tennis team, Monday’s match against South Bend St. Joseph’s was like deja vu all over again.
The lineups were exactly the same as when the two squads faced off against each other two weeks ago, and so was the result with The Times No. 3 Trojans winning all three singles matches to defeat the state No. 8 Indians 3-2 in the semifinal of the LaPorte regional held at Kesling Park.
“I felt confident that if we played the way we were capable of playing that we could prevail again,” Chesterton coach Gretchen Shinn said. “Again, it’s really hard to beat a good team twice in the same season.”
The Trojans (18-2) will face state No. 4 Penn (17-1) in Wednesday’s regional final. The Kingsmen advanced to the final with a 5-0 win over Michigan City.
Chesterton's Margaret Shinn trailed Madeline Minaudo 4-3 in the first set before rallying to win 10 of the final 11 games, including the last eight, to win 7-5, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.
“She needed to gain a little confidence,” coach Shinn said. “I knew what she was capable of, and once she got that set under her belt she could roll.”
At No. 1 singles, Bobbi Modesto defeated Sid Corrigan 6-0, 6-1.
Meg Modesto beat Haley Powers 6-1, 6-4 at No. 2 singles. Modesto trailed 3-2 in the second set before taking four of the final five games.
“Singles really did the job today,” Shinn said.
The Indians (18-4) recorded wins in both doubles matches. In four sets of doubles, the Trojans won just five games.
In the other semifinal, the Kingsmen recorded five straight-set victories over the Wolves (12-5).
“This is a program that is top in the state,” Michigan City coach Don Varda said. “I thought our girls battled as hard as they could. That’s all I asked them to do.”
Hayley Snelson beat Megan Methner 6-4, 6-0 at No. 2 singles.
At No. 1 singles, Alexandra Brinker, one of the top-ranked players in Indiana, defeated Alante Wright 6-2, 6-0.
Katherine Mader beat Theresa Werner 6-1, 6-2 to win at No. 3 singles.
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