Penn threatens, but South Bend Saint Joseph win sixth-straight NIC boys tennis title

SOUTH BEND — Penn made things interesting Wednesday, but South Bend Saint Joseph was able to pull out two huge victories at doubles to win a sixth-straight Northern Indiana Conference boys tennis championship at Leeper Park.

With just the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles championship matches left, Penn needed to win both to tie Saint Joseph and create co-champions. The Kingsmen put pressure on Saint Joe right away, winning both first sets on those respective courts.

The duos from Saint Joseph responded, though, winning second sets to force a 10-point super tiebreaker.

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The No. 2 doubles team from Saint Joe, junior Cormac Kennedy and freshman Ben Brady, finished first, winnings its tiebreaker by a 10-6 margin to take the match 4-6, 6-0, 10-6.

In one of the more hotly contested matches, Saint Joe's pairing of junior Jake Westberry and sophomore Luke Blumentritt erased a 9-6 deficit in its tiebreaker to win, 11-9, sending the people in blue and white into a frenzy.

The final score line on the No. 1 doubles match read 5-7, 6-2, 11-9.

“Regardless of what the score is, you’re never out of it,” Saint Joseph coach Matt Halfpenny said. “That’s the beauty of tennis: you can comeback if you compete. You can be down 5-0 or down triple set point in a third-set tiebreaker, and momentum can shift rather quickly. It can be based on one shot or one point, so I’m always talking to these guys about being locked in and present on the point they’re playing.”

Also winning individual championships for Saint Joseph were freshman Jacob Hix at No. 2 singles and senior Will Westberry at No. 3 singles. Hix won his title, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 over Penn junior Noah Systma, while Westberry was a 6-0, 6-2 winner over Elkhart junior Logan Kelly in his championship contest.

Penn junior Chris Chen won the No. 1 singles championship, outlasting Saint Joseph senior Colin Blumentritt for the second time in eight days, this time by a 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 score.

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Halfpenny knows there will be a balance to find with his team as it closes in on postseason play, which can begin next Tuesday, Sept. 26.

“Rest is going to be important,” Halfpenny said. “And then when we’re working, we’ll focus on a few of our details, as far as what we saw during play (Wednesday) and cleaning up things. Nothing too over the top, though — we’re well into the season now to where as long as we maintain our same level of preparation, we should have success.”

2023 NIC boys tennis championship results

Championship matches

No. 1 singles: Chris Chen (Penn) def. Colin Blumentritt (SB Saint Joseph), 7-6 (8-6), 6-4. No. 2 singles: Jacob Hix (SBSJ) def. Noah Systma (P), 7-6 (9-7), 6-3. No. 3 singles: Will Westberry (SBSJ) def. Logan Kelly (Elkhart), 6-0, 6-2. No. 1 doubles: Luke Blumentritt/Jake Westberry (SBSJ) def. Quinn Lippert/Evan Knapp (P), 5-7, 6-2, 11-9. No. 2 doubles: Cormac Kennedy/Ben Brady (SBSJ) def. Jaden Shim/Caleb Oneese (P), 4-6, 6-0, 10-6

Third place matches

No. 1 singles: Brady Kelly (E) def. Camden Hickman (Bremen), 6-3, 6-3. No. 2 singles: Ben Miller (E) def. Max Varner (B), 6-3, 1-6, 10-4. No. 3 singles: Brock Ginter (B) def. Jacob Kyle (P), 6-2, 6-1. No. 1 doubles: Noah Dibley/Matt Grolich (E) def. Max Barnes/Micah Porter (B), 6-2, 6-4. No. 2 doubles: Maddux Hickman/Bryce Miller (B) def. Hayden Holdeman/Cameron Miller (E), 3-6, 6-2, 10-8.

Final Team Standings

1. South Bend Saint Joseph (63 points), 2. Penn (56), 3. Elkhart (50), 4. Bremen (47), 5. Mishawaka Marian (33), 6. Jimtown (28), 7. South Bend Riley (27) T8. South Bend Adams (26), T8. South Bend Riley (26), 10. John Glenn (20), 11. South Bend Clay (8), 12. South Bend Washington (3)

First Team All-NIC: Chris Chen, Quinn Lippert and Evan Knapp, Penn; Jacob Hix, Will Westberry, Luke Blumentritt, Jake Westberry, Cormac Kennedy, Ben Brady and Colin Blumentritt, South Bend Saint Joseph.

Second Team All-NIC: Noah Systma, Jaden Shim and Caleb Oneese, Penn; Logan Kelly, Noah Dibley and Brady Kelly, Elkhart; Brock Ginter, Bremen.

Honorable mentions: Maddux Hickman, Bryce Miller, Camden Hickman, Max Brarnes and Micah Porter, Bremen; Zane Wort, Jimtown.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Indiana high school tennis: South Bend Saint Joseph win NIC tournament