Girls' Tennis: Freshmen tilt Bloomington South's rivalry match against North

Things got tense in the annual Bloomington city girls tennis match between North and South on Thursday, and a pair of Panther freshmen put a smile on their faces and welcomed the challenge.

Quinn Reynolds and Everly Clark usually form the No. 2 doubles team for South but with a couple teammates out of action for the evening, moved up and into the spotlight before the night was over, rallying to beat Ingrid Pendergast and Sara Venturieri, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-2 to clinch a 3-2 Conference Indiana team win.

"They had to battle through the jitters," South coach Matt Corry said on the now quiet tennis courts at South. "There were a couple games were we had three match points and we lost the game and then we went down in the next game.

"But I was thrilled to see them inviting the moment in and they're willingness to face it and find enjoyment in the fact everybody's going crazy. The pressure was something where the team pushed them and they enjoyed their moment."

It's South's first win over North since the 2019 sectional semifinals and Corry likes the growth he sees that led to it.

South (6-5, 3-1) also got a big win at 1 singles from Maddie Santner, who worked past Keira Murphy, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4, in a battle of seniors and the most experienced players on young teams still feeling their way through the early part of the season.

"Maddie was down 0-3, frustrated and was able to respond in a big moment and claw her way back and get back on track to playing her game," Corry said. "So I was really excited to see the growth mentally."

Corry split up his 1 doubles team, putting Carla Dameter at 2 singles and Hannah Vandeventer at 3.

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Demeter topped Rahel Samantrai 7-6, 6-2, while North's Hope Isbitt, herself a doubles player earlier this season, got the best of Vandeventer 6-3, 6-4.

"Two singles, (Samantrai) was just putting everything back," Corry said. "I told Carla, I just can't believe how patient you are.' Carla's a freshman so she knew the match was on her racket as well."

North's No. 2 doubles combination of Mira Koduri and Ashley Stegmoller scored their other point, defeating Abby Arthur and Clara Tweedie. 6-4, 6-3.

The last half of the season will be critical to both squads. The new sectional is a four-teamer now, with Brown County and Edgewood. The Eagles beat shorthanded South on Monday, 3-2 and the Mustangs topped North 3-2 last week. Lineup changes are certainly coming as the next couple of weeks develop.

"We could be rolling into sectionals with the same limitation," Corry said. "This has been a crazy season, battling injuries because of the intensity with losing out on the first two weeks (due to the weather). But it's going to come down to whoever grows and enjoys competing and can actually be more excited about winning than they are the fear of what they could lose."

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Freshmen tilt Bloomington South girls tennis match against North