South Bend St. Joseph ends Chesterton’s boys tennis season, 3-2, but Trojans senior Luke Sorgic continues his season in individual singles tournament

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Senior Luke Sorgic, the Chesterton tennis player that coach Tom Bour calls the best in school history was at his best Wednesday at Kesling Park in the regional final vs. South Bend St. Joseph.
Sorgic won his No. 1 singles match against Jacob Hix and will continue his season in the individual singles state tournament. Sorgic’s teammates ended their season playing well, but South Bend St. Joseph, ranked No. 5 in the state, prevailed, 3-2.
The 22nd-ranked Trojans, trying to win their first regional in school history, threw a scare into St. Joe, which won the No. 2 and 3 singles, and the No. 1 doubles matches.
Chesterton’s No. 2 doubles juniors Brady McWhirter and Ryland Tolton ended their season on a sweet note, winning the last match of the night, 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 to run their record to 11-2.
The quality of play on the center court made it obvious that it was a No. 1 singles match. Sorgic came out on fire, won the first set 6-2, then lost some of his mojo at the start of the second set, but finished strong to win it 7-5. He had fallen behind 0-3, then picked it back up. Still, Hix was ahead 4-3, and 5-4 before Sorgic put the hammer down and won the final three games in impressive fashion.
The only two losses of the season for Sorgic (22-2) were to Hix, a junior, and his brother, Oliver Hix, a sophomore. The victory was the first against St. Joe in his Sorgic’s career.
Coming into the day, the USTA 18-and-under rankings had Jacob Hix at 436 in the nation, 36 in the section and first in the district. Oliver Hix was ranked 750 in the nation, 60 in the section and No. 2 in the district. Sorgic was No. 1,218 nationally, 105 in the section and third in the district.
It didn’t look like an upset though. Sorgic was the more powerful, more aggressive player. He looked forward to the match, not so much because he wanted revenge, but more so because he liked the way he matched up with ihs opponent.
“He’s really solid,” Sorgic said. “What I like about playing him is it’s kind of on me. He’s not going to hit a ton of winners. He’s going to keep the ball in play and he’s not going to miss, so I feel like it’s on me to play my game. If I’m going to make errors, I’m going to lose, and if I play well I can beat him.”
The only stretch that Sorgic didn’t look confident was at the start of the second set, when he fell behind 0-3. Then he recovered it with a little self-talk: “I don’t want to go three, so just try to dive back in and get back in the set.”
Bour, who has been coach for nine of the school’s 10 sectional titles, shared what the difference was in Wednesday’s match as opposed to Sorgic’s two losses to St. Joe: “Two things. His start was much better today. He got off to a start. He made the St. Joe kid chase him most of the match, and then mentally, mentally he never looked like he was down. His head was always up. He was always positive. Even on changeovers he was always positive, so that’s what we’re real proud of him for today, and to overcome losing to a guy and beating him is big.”
Sorgic’s season continues, and the rest of the team went out in style.
In the huddle right before his players took the court, Bour told them, “Hey, let’s compete today. Let’s show them who we are and show them that we’ve got a lot of pride.”
The Trojans accomplished that by making the Huskies sweat on a chilly day.
No. 2 singles player Peytan Belegal, (17-5) shut out by Oliver Hix 6-0, 6-0 the previous time he played him this season, lost 6-3, 6-2 this time. The No. 1 doubles team of Jake Bell and Shane Henry lost 6-4, 6-1, and at No. 3 singles Jack Ciupak lost 6-0, 6-2 to Jack Mattison, a player who would fill the No. 1 singles slot at some schools.
This rendition of the Trojans developed into one of Bour’s best.
“It ranks right up there. What was great about this team is how we just kept getting better and better as the season rolled on,” Bour said.
The Trojans’ performances against St. Joe made those words ring true. St. Joe defeated Chesterton 5-0 on the first day of the season, 4-1 in early September and 3-2 in the regional final.
“We come up here against the No. (5) team in the state and we had them on the ropes for a good hour-and-a-half, two hours,” Bour said. “I couldn’t be prouder of how we competed today.”