Chesterton girls tennis team earns fifth consecutive sectional championship with 4-1 victory over tournament host Valparaiso

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, more commonly known as COVID-19, didn’t have those names the last time Chesterton lost a girls tennis sectional. The virus was contained to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China back then for the purpose of gain-of-function research.
Think of all that has changed since May 18, 2019, when Valparaiso defeated Chesterton, 5-0, in the sectional final.
No season in 2020, then five consecutive sectional titles for Chesterton, the most recent coming Friday at Valparaiso, where the Trojans defeated Valpo, 4-1.
This year’s champions, like the four previous ones, featured a mix of seniors and younger players, and will be remembered best for having a remarkably successful pair of doubles teams, whose combined record is 39-1.
Three seniors, three juniors and a freshman played in a sectional tournament delayed two days by rainouts. Chesterton advanced to the championship with a pair of 5-0 wins Thursday vs. Kouts and Portage.
Unlike the doubleheader wins, defeating the Vikings was not a given.
No. 1 doubles Ameilia Smith, a junior, and Aleksa Sorgic, a senior, fell behind early, thanks to a clever Valpo strategy designed to slow down the pace and frustrate the two Trojans, to win 6-4, 6-2 and improve to 19-1.
At No. 2 doubles, seniors Anisa Faroh and Lauren Pilarski ran their record to 20-0 by winning 6-3, 6-0.
Early in the day, Chesterton was behind in three matches, including at No. 1 singles, where junior Kenzie Kania, following a pattern similar to how things went in the regular season at Valpo, only worse, fell behind before taking control and finishing strong. Unlike in the regular season, Kania needed three sets to score the victory: 2-6, 6-0, 6-1. The match lasted quite a bit longer than the other four.
Valparaiso scored its point at No. 2 singles, defeating junior Lizzy Navarro, 6-4, 6-3, yet nobody showed a greater improvement since the April 29 match at Valpo than Navarro. She lost that one 6-0, 6-0.
Back then, freshman Kendall Gallion overcame a slow start to win her match in three sets. This time, Gallion took care of business in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 to land the third point and clinch the fifth consecutive title for the Trojans.
“You know, good teams should be able to make some adjustments and figure it out,” Chesterton coach Tom Bour said. “To Valpo’s credit, they played outstanding. They had great strategy. That’s what makes the win a little more special. We handled it and made some adjustments.”
The postseason bus travels next to LaPorte for the regional round, where the gigantic show of South Bend St. Joseph looms.
But first comes a match at Kesling Park against the regional host Slicers, 4-1, victims of Chesterton during the regular season, on Tuesday on April 24 in LaPorte.
While the DAC schools clash, SB St. Joe will face Andrean. Both matches start at 4:30 p.m. and admission is $7 (plus $0.90 if using a card). The winners meet for the regional championship Wednesday at 4:30 and the winner of that advances to the Culver Academies semi-state.
For Chesterton, shifting Sorgic from No. 2 singles to No. 1 doubles early in the season was move made in part with a potential regional match vs. St. Joe in mind.
“Once again, I can’t say enough good things about our doubles,” Bour said. “Our No. 1, they were down 1-4 at one point, then they won the next five games. That was what was so impressive. Once they grabbed the lead, they just did what they’ve been doing all year. It was good to see. It was good to see.”
The three singles players impressed their coach in different ways.
“Our singles fought off every little run they had. Real impressed with Kendall down at No. 3 getting that clinching third point,” Bour said. “She won some huge games down the stretch. That Valpo girl kept fighting back and Kendall kept winning the next game. And my No. 2 Lizzy played great. She lost oh and oh in the regular season to this girl, so to lose 6-4, 6-3, she was right there. And then Kenzie got off to a slow start and then once she grabbed the lead, she never relinquished it either.”
It all added up to a fifth consecutive sectional title for the Trojans.
Check onwardtrojans.com throughout the Memorial Day weekend for features on both Chesterton doubles teams.