Girls tennis: Santner leads South into up-for-grabs Bloomington Sectional

Maddie Santner is making the most of her second serve.

She thought about bailing on her freshman season at Bloomington South, even though she had made the varsity team at No. 1 doubles. She felt like she was putting too much pressure on herself and had second thoughts about playing. But she's found a way to deal with it.

"I came out my freshman year because my mom said I had to do at least one season," Santner said. "And I loved the team aspect of it, so I stuck with it.

"It was more of a mental battle for me. It's such a big part of tennis. I kind of struggled with it. I've gotten better with it. It's a very individual sport so being a part of a team is what made the switch for me."

Santer, who will lead the Panthers into this week's sectional at home in her second year at No. 1 singles, stuck with it well enough to get a chance to play in college, to keep the team aspect in the sport she loves. She's headed to Hanover, where former South standout Hailey Vandeventer plays.

"I guess I decided I wanted to play in college last year," Santner said. "When Haley was going through her recruiting process. She was so excited and I got excited for her."

Santner had reached out to several coaches and a few reached out to her, but having Vandeventer already on the Hanover roster was a big leg up for those Panthers and coach Eric LaRue.

"I loved the campus," said Santner, who plans to study kinesiology with an eye toward becoming a physical therapist. "It's gorgeous. The coach is hilarious. He's great. I just decided it's going to be the best fit for me."

She plans to spend another summer playing lots of tennis and getting her doubles legs back as well and is excited to continue to play competitively.

"I've been playing for seven years," she said. "I always knew I'd continue playing because I feel like I've put in the work. I just don't want to stop. But I think D-III is a great opportunity to keep playing."

Sectional draws revealed

It's usually a bit more cut and dried. Bloomington North or South have won a sectional title every year since 2010. The Cougars have won the last three but that streak is in jeopardy in a rebuilding year.

The draw for the redrawn four-team Bloomington South Sectional, which will run Wednesday and Thursday, will pit North against Edgewood and Brown County against South in the semifinals, leaving interesting rematches. BC and Edgewood have never won a sectional, but they've seldom been more competitive with the Bloomington squads.

Brown County (14-5), which plays seniors at all but one doubles spot, lost to Greencastle and Sullivan in WIC play. But the Eagles beat South 3-2 (with wins at 2 and 3 singles and 1 doubles) and Edgewood 4-1. The Panthers took care of Edgewood 4-1 last Friday, but had to win a pair of three setters at 3 singles and 2 doubles. South, missing two of its usual starters at the time, also beat North 3-2.

Edgewood beat North early in the season, 3-2, with the No. 2 doubles match tilting it the Mustangs' way.

"This is a really big deal for us," Edgewood coach Katie Brookman said at the time. "I don't remember the last time Edgewood has even beat Bloomington North. Probably a long time ago. From here on out, we'll just gain for confidence."

Edgewood (12-7) comes in off a 5-0 win over Linton and some of their increased success this year was due to the Mustangs finding ways to survive or rally to win three-setters in several critical matches.

"I think that a lot of these girls have been working all year and a lot of them play other sports," Brookman said. "So they're really athletic already so they have that mental attitude to keep working hard even if they're tired or the matches go longer than they expected."

The Eagles, who returned all three singles players and this year's No. 1 doubles team, have also tested themselves against No. 20 Delta, No. 16 Westfield.

The newly drawn out regional assignments now sends the Bloomington sectional winner to the Terre Haute North Regional where the winners from Greencastle, Plainfield and Terre Haute South will meet. The Bloomington winner will play the Plainfield winner in the semis.

At Greencastle, Martinsville will play South Putnam and Mooresville takes on Greencastle in the sectional semis.

More: Big tourneys testing No. 6 Bloomington South boys golf, plus more midseason observations

Owen Valley is now in a five-team sectional at Linton, which is part of the Jasper Regional bracket.

Sullivan will play Linton in the lone match on Tuesday, with the winner playing White River Valley in one semi, while OV meets Bloomfield.

The winner takes on the Vincennes Sectional champion in the regional semis.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Santner leads South into up-for-grabs Bloomington tennis sectional