Tennis Results: Sept. 25
Goshen, Northridge Share NLC Title
After the RedHawks ran through the NLC round robin undefeated, the Raiders claimed the tournament cookie, forcing a split of the conference championship banners.
Both team each had two court championships, but it was in the back draw where Ridge earned enough points to catch Goshen and claim the split. At two doubles, neither Goshen nor Northridge were playing for a title, but Ridge was playing for third while Goshen was playing for fifth. Ridge would beat NorthWood for third while Goshen settled for fifth in beating Wawasee, but the extra points helped Northridge claim half the bragging rights. Ridge also earned points at one doubles with its title while Goshen was seventh, widening the margin.
Brendan LaCounte claimed Top Gun of the NLC with a No. 1 singles championship, the Ridge ace beating Goshen’s Pi Wellington two and three. Goshen’s Moses Sawatzky and Isaac Stahly both won singles titles over Northridge’s Brandon Lomas and Kaleb Ellis, while the Ridge one doubles team of Evan Nay and Collin Seegart beat Wawasee’s Grant Brooks and Holden Babb 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2.
Concord’s Andrew Kavanagh and Sam West took the two doubles bracket, beating Warsaw’s Khareus Miller and Jack Reed 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-0.
Concord finished third in the standings, followed by Warsaw, Wawasee, Plymouth, NorthWood and Mishawaka based off season and tournament combined successes.
IWU Men 4, Grace 0
Grace ran into a juggernaut in the finals of the Crossroads League Tournament. The 10th-ranked Wildcats of Indiana Wesleyan improved to a perfect 20-0 with a 4-0 victory over the Lancers.
Indiana Wesleyan, which has only dropped five individual contests all season, earns an automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament next May. Grace (10-3) hopes to play its way into an at-large bid to nationals, much like last season when the Lancers advanced to the second round of NAIA nationals and ended the year ranked No. 15.
“Indiana Wesleyan is a very good team and I think we closed the gap with them a bit since last season,” said Coach Andy Lewis. “Our guys played well.”
The Wildcats captured the first two doubles matches to earn a point. Facundo Paredes and Ivan Antintori dropped the No. 1 contest 6-3, while Ramiro Candia and Fabricio Galvan lost 6-1 at the No. 2 position. Max Rozas and Milan Savic were on serve at 3-4 in No. 3 doubles when the match was called.
Only three singles matches were completed as Indiana Wesleyan reached the four points needed to claim the championship. David Sandi battled at No. 1 singles, but fell 6-3, 6-1, while Galvan lost 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4 singles. The clinching point came at No. 6 singles, where Nicolas Doria lost 6-4, 6-0.
Grace will compete in the ITA Tournament in Marion, Indiana, beginning on September 30.