Chesterton doubles teams split with mighty No. 18 South Bend St. Joseph, giving Trojans reason to believe that possible postseason rematch could get interesting

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

A fifth consecutive sectional title ranks high on the Chesterton girls tennis team’s list of goals, but they don’t shy from reaching even higher.
The Trojans haven’t been able to push it past the sectional stage during that streak and the defending state champion, South Bend St. Joseph, stands in their way again, but do the girls stand as tall as in the past?
Given how close both doubles matches were Wednesday afternoon at Chesterton, where the Trojans lost 4-1, it’s a question worth asking.
Both doubles matches were so hotly contested, ultimately so close, that if the schools were to meet again in the regional, it would be a mistake to call any doubles outcome an upset.
If both of those were to go the way of the Trojans in the regional, that would require just one upset in one of the three singles matches for Chesterton to pull of the elusive team upset.
Upsets don’t happen as often in high school tennis as in most sports, but there is enough there there for the rematch, if it should happen, to at least be interesting.
Chesterton No. 1 singles player, junior Kenzie Kania, lost her match 4-6, 0-6, but she was up 4-3 in the first set, so it’s not as though her opponent can just show up for the rematch and win.
Senior Alkesa Sorgic lost her No. 2 singles match 1-6, 1-6, and junior Lizzy Navarro lost her No. 3 singles match 0-6,0-6. So, St. Joe, as usual will be the favorite, will be the heavy favorite should the schools meet again in the regional round, but the formula that has Chesterton winning both doubles matches and Kania scoring an upset in singles is not an outlandish dream.
The singles matches wrapped up first, which turned everybody’s attention to the doubles matches, both of which were settled in tiebreakers.
No. 1 doubles Anisa Faroh and Ameilia Smith, playing together in a match for Chesterton for the first time, performed like longtime partners. They won the first set 6-3 and held a lead in the back-and-forth second set until St. Joe pulled away at the end, setting up a tiebreaker played to 10. Again fading at the end, the Trojans lost 7-10 but gained an even greater desire to the play their foes in the postseason.
“I think we’re going to come back and get them next time,” Smith predicted.
A good No. 1 doubles player last season, Smith appears to have become a good deal better, based on the way she was dropping finesse shots into impossible spots one minute, firing lasers over the net the next. Smith played No. 1 doubles with senior Ava Komp last season and they earned All-DAC honors.
Faroh and Ellery Denny were All-DAC last season at No. 2 doubles. Facing St. Joe on Wednesday didn’t make Faroh feel second-best. She and Denny defeated the St. Joe’s No. 2 doubles team in the regional at LaPorte last season, and Faroh and Smith almost knocked off this year’s team.
“Not these same girls, but we did beat St. Joe. The 2 doubles,” Faroh said. “That was awesome. That was a great feeling to have.”
If Bour keeps Smith and Faroh together, nobody anticipates it taking long for them to develop optimal chemistry.
“We’ve played together a little bit in the offseason,” Faroh said. “We love playing together, and we’re good at supporting each other.
Added Smith: “Plus, we’re good friends.”
Friends can work well together on the court, but Chesterton coach Tom Bour also likes pairing a young player with an older one in some instances. That combination worked well against St. Joe. Freshman Kendall Gallion and senior Lauren Pilarski accounted for the lone point in the match with St. Joe, defeating the visitors 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 10-5.
Bour was especially pleased to see how the new tandem “played stronger and more aggressive in the third set tiebreaker.”
Chesterton opened its season last Saturday in Logansport, winning the eight-team tournament for the fourth year in a row.
Kania won the singles flight, winning her three matches in straight sets. Navarro placed second in the No. 2 singles flight and Gallion played No. 3 singles and went 1-1. Elena Clark went 1-0 from the spot.
Sorgic and Smith played No. 1 doubles and earned first place with three straight-set wins and Faroh and Pilarski dominated No. 2 doubles in similar fashion, losing just three games, compared to just two for the No. 1 tandem.
“We have a good team,” Faroh said. “We have a couple of different lineups we can use and either way we’re a strong lineup.”