Triton Tennis: Philips, Bremen Go The Distance
BREMEN – Triton girls tennis head coach Al Peckham sat by himself on a bleacher, shaking his head. He had never seen what unfolded Thursday in the Bremen Girls Tennis Sectional semi-finals, and neither had any of those who were watching.
Triton’s Shayla May and Bremen’s Kylie Philips embarked on one wild ride, a 4-hour and 11-minute ultra-marathon that had Philips claim a 5-7, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-1) victory over May which happened to give her team a 3-2 win and advancement to the sectional finals.
May had all the chances in the world to put away Philips but couldn’t get a shot to fall. After taking a 4-1 lead in the second set already a set in hand, May got complacent while Philips started to make her move. Philips didn’t commit an unforced error in four straight games to take a 5-4 lead, only for May to rally back the next two games at 6-5. Philips forced the tiebreaker and got it, heading into their third hour of play.
May again found herself up 5-4 and serving for the match, but Philips broke the serve and held her end to take a 6-5 advantage in the third. May used a great lob shot to steal back the next game, sending heads shaking all over the fringes of DeSantis Courts as the two would go to another tiebreaker.
Philips left no doubt, winning the tiebreak with ease. Not only to stay alive in the state tournament, but catapulting her team into the team finals Friday against Plymouth.
“I was trying to move back and forth, putting the shots in the corners when I noticed that she kept going back to the middle. I wanted to go backhand down the line, which is my favorite shot,” Philips said of her rally strategy. “I was still thinking in both tiebreakers, especially the second, that I can’t screw this up. I was worried to make an error. But we kept going on and somehow I stayed in it. I just had to keep fighting.”
Bremen had taken a quick 2-0 lead on the courts after Liz Lawmaster beat Kolbie Mason 6-1, 7-5 and the two doubles team of Maggie Whitinger and Katherine Arevalo knocked off Megan McFarland and Tatum Thompson 6-0, 6-3.
It looked like curtains for Triton as its one doubles team of Hannah Wanemacher and Emma Ross were behind the eight ball after losing its first set 7-6 (7-2) to Shaelyn Atkins and Lacey Bennitt. But the Triton duo finally found rhythm at the net in the second set, cutting off Atkins’ angle shots and recovering on long rallies to post a 7-5 second set. Triton caught a break in the third set when Bennitt began cramping in her hamstrings, which slowed the rangy Lion down considerably. Triton took advantage with a 6-0 win to stay alive, and keep its team hopes alive.
With Bremen’s team win, Wanemacher and Ross will qualify for the individual state tournament, which starts next week at Culver Academy. Their opponents have not yet been determined.
Quinn Downing did her part at three singles, handling Nicole Tomlinson 6-1, 6-3, leaving it up to May or Philips to close it out.
“I guess we were a little surprised that we won easily on the two singles and two doubles courts,” said Bremen head coach Mark Wagner. “But if you look at the first time we played, the exact same three courts got the points. But the two doubles went three sets the first time, and one singles went two sets. Funny how that works, but it was a little surprising it worked out like that.”
Triton closes out its season at 13-2, winners of the inaugural Hoosier North Athletic Conference regular season and conference tournament. Triton, however, bows out of the tournament without a sectional title, having not won a title since 2004. The future is bright for Triton, with May the lone senior and Downing the only junior on the varsity.
“Last year I foresaw a lot of this, with all these kids coming in for this season,” said Triton head coach Al Peckham of his young roster. “You feel for Shayla going out like that her senior year. But we did some good things, and we have Quinn coming back and all these sophomores coming back as juniors. You take the steps, just as we did last year, and we get kicked out of the sectional again. But we are taking steps to raise our level and I only see that improving us again next year.”
Bremen will face Plymouth in the sectional championship Friday at 4:30 p.m. The Pilgrims are seeking its second straight title and 31st overall. Plymouth rolled over John Glenn 5-0 in just under an hour Thursday. Plymouth’s singles courts of Lanae Singleton, Ashley Harrell and Cortni Cook lost a combined two games while its doubles teams of McKenzie Scheetz, Kendall Dreibelbis, Kayla Hoober and Leah Smith lost just one game.
The sectional champion will take on Rochester in the semi-finals of the Culver Academy Regional. Rochester won its first-ever sectional title Thursday with a 5-0 win at Knox.