Bloomington South athletic director J.R. Holmes was just hoping for a small opening in the clouds between bouts of rain this wet spring to get in the three matches needed this week to complete the girls' tennis sectional.
A window of opportunity is all Panther coach Matt Corry and his senior class were hoping for as well, a chance for the sun to shine on them as sectional champs for the first time since 2019. South did indeed take advantage, competing a 5-0 sweep of Bloomington North on Friday evening, brightening their skies, no matter what the weather report might say.
It hasn't been the easiest season to get rolling or to figure out how to piece together a team with so many new faces and that was a challenge both squads faced this year.
"It's crazy," said South senior Maddie Santner said. "It's taken four years, but we got here. So we did it eventually. It means a lot. This is a great group and I couldn't have asked for a better senior year.
"I'm just happy and excited to see what we do. I have no idea what regionals is like because I've never won."
It will take place at Terre Haute North next Tuesday and South (10-9) will play the winner of Saturday's sectional title match between Plainfield and Brownsburg. The Quakers have not won a sectional since 2011 and the Bulldogs since 2018.
The last time South won a sectional, 'Zoom' meant a PBS kids show, not a place to take classes during COVID. Similar to what Santner went through, in 2019 it was a happy senior in Maya Mills at No. 1 singles helping end a four-year title drought for the Panthers.
"It's really fitting," South coach Matt Corry said. "They've been on this sad side of heartache multiple times. But they stayed with it. They stayed working at it. I'm most excited to see the amount of growth from them and of the team.
"Because I don't know that we could have done this anywhere close to the beginning of the season. So they've put a tremendous amount of belief in the coaching staff and they've also responded and it's exciting to see how they weathered the storm today."
First-set win momentum
Everything seemed to swing in three matches after the Panthers prevailed in long first sets.
At 2 doubles, Quinn Reynolds and Everly Clark rallied from down 5-2 and 6-5 to win 7-6(5) and polished off Mira Koduri and Ally O'Guinn 6-2 in the second.
Same at 1 doubles, where South's Hannah Vandeventer and Carla Demeter pulled out a 7-5 victory in the first set against Ingrid Pendergast and Ashley Stegemoller, then 6-2 to close it out.
And at 1 singles, Santner found a way to beat Keira Murphy 7-5 and also finished strong with a 6-2 win.
"We've spent a good amount of time this year on Wednesday mornings approaching the mental side," Corry said. "We brought in a good friend of mine who is a high achieving weightlifter and is getting his counseling degree, so he helped facilitate a lot of conversation and direction as we worked on that."
Carolta Campos flipped it around at 3 singles, winning 6-3 over Hope Isbitts, then coming back from down 5-4 to win 7-5 to complete the team sweep and a moment the exchange student from Spain will never forget.
At 2 singles, Booke Liao was cruising but Rahel Samantrai pushed back in the second set of a 6-1, 6-3 decision.
As a result, Santner and the top doubles team of Vandeventer and Demeter also are still eligible in the individual tournament after going 2-0 at sectional.
North made them earn it
The Cougars had just one varsity regular back and even in that case, senior Keira Murphy had to make a big adjustment from three years of doubles to playing No. 1 singles.
"(South) earned the victory," North coach Barb Mills said. "But I was really proud of the kids. We had great improvement in our doubles from the beginning of the season to the end. Massive improvement. I thought they fought really hard.
"We're a fairly inexperienced team, but nobody gave up. South just earned it today."
It was an unusual season on many counts.
"I think it was a tough season for not being able to practice and not being able to work on different doubles combinations," Mills said. "We've couldn't hardly play challenge matches. But everybody was in the same boat. So that was tough. I've never experienced anything like the weather this season."
In the end, they made strong progress despite the odds.
"No. 1 doubles team of Ingrid and Ashley had good chemistry," Mills said. "Ingrid being a senior I thought she was great for Ashley, a freshman. And Ashley's just a good athlete. She hadn't played tennis and she's learning very, very quickly.
"Keira adjusting from doubles to singles, mentally that's been very difficult. It was just exhausting. I thought she did a really good job. I wish I was going to have her a lot longer. She turned into a great singles player. Rahel had never played and she ended up being quite a fighter. Hope came in and overall was a pretty strong point for us. And 2 doubles, Mira and Ally played only one match together before sectional but I was pleased with them, too."
Ready for regional
Figuring out the best lineup is almost always a season-long task, especially with so many new faces. The Panthers had three returning starters and built on from there.
"I think it was clear early on who some of the pairs were going to be and who was strong," Santner said. "So it was fun getting to see those pairs work together and grow into their spots and get ready. It worked out. We got better throughout the season."
Along the way, South faced some tough competition, enjoyed the wins and learned from the losses.
"It's always difficult as a coach," Corry said. "Once you put them out, then you've got to go. I couldn't focus on the end. I had to focus on the moment and be humble and see when I made bad decisions in how to move things around and how to approach personalities and how to pair personalities.
"Not every day was a win but I think what we did do is put together a group of girls who were willing to buy in and face their insecurities and let themselves be coached and pick each other up and their response in pretty exciting to see."
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