No. 22 Trojans defeat boys tennis regional host LaPorte 3-2 to advance to final vs. No. 5 South Bend St. Joseph today at Kesling Park, 4:30 p.m.

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Using different styles to get to the same place, Chesterton’s top two single players had no trouble winning their matches Tuesday at LaPorte against the regional host on the way to a 3-2 team victory in the semifinal.
Luke Sorgic, who has a way of keeping his opponents on the defensive, forever making them try to return his powerful, well-placed shots, didn’t drop a game, quickly wrapping up his match 6-0, 6-0.
Belegal relies on strong defense, consistently returning his opponent’s shots and basically waiting for them to make mistakes.
“Keep it in, keep it consistent, and hit offensively when it’s appropriate,” was how Belegal described his style. “You have to choose the right time.”
The right times presented themselves frequently Tuesday and Belegal was the second to the finish line for the Trojans, winning his match 6-1, 6-0.
It takes three points to win the match, and based on how the regular season went, it likely was going to take the No. 3 doubles team of Brady McWhirter and Ryland Tolton to deliver the decisive point and that’s how it turned out.
As expected, the Slicers picked up the No. 1 doubles and No. 3 singles points and with everyone at the Kesling Park courts watching after the sun dropped, McWhirter and Tolton got it done, winning their match 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 to advance to today’s regional final at 4:30 p.m. vs. South Bend St. Joseph.
“Both teams knew heading into the match what they needed to happen in order to win,” said Chesterton coach Tom Bour, who has been the coach for nine of the school’s 10 sectional titles in boys tennis.
“LaPorte knew they needed both doubles points and we knew we needed just one. LaPorte played outstanding in doubles, but I think at No. 2 doubles we were a little steadier down the stretch as the match tightened.”
McWhirter and Tolton played their best tennis at the end of the tiebreaker in the first set and in closing out the match by winning the final three games of the second set.
Ranked No. 22 in the state, Chesterton will for its first regional title in school history, which would require upsetting No. 5 South Bend St. Joseph.
This marks the third time the Trojans have faced the Huskies this season. The first came on the opening day of the season at St. Joe Joe’s invitational on Aug. 23. The Huskies won that match, 5-0.
The schools met again Sep. 6, where the Huskies won 4-1.
Sorgic (21-2) has won all of his matches this season except the two he played against St. Joseph. Belegal (17-4) also lost twice to the Huskies.
The No. 2 doubles team of McWhirter and Ciupak won a point against SBSJ on Sep. 6, winning the match on a 10-point tiebreaker.
The 5-0 loss on the season’s opening day included three competitive matches. Sorgic lost 2-6, 4-6, No. 1 doubles Jake Bell and Shane Henry lost 3-6, 2-6 and Ciupak and Tolton lost 4-6, 6-4, 10-12.