PREP GIRLS TENNIS: NorthWood marches on to regional final, ousting Northridge 3-2

May 21—NAPPANEE — The final chapter of the NorthWood-Northridge girls tennis 2024 saga came to a close Tuesday night in a match that was once again tightly congested.

With a backdrop of sweltering heat in the high 80s, spectators soon received more than they paid for: a finish that repeated a similar tune of close regular season and Northern Lakes tournament matches between the fierce competition on both sides of the semifinal matchup.

It was the Panthers who pulled away at the end, winning 3-2 and advancing to the regional championship at home to face Penn — 3-2 winners over Warsaw.

"I knew coming into this match no matter where, I thought all five courts were going to battle and I think they all did," said NorthWood head coach Tif Schwartz after capturing her 200th win of her coaching career on the girls side. "It was very competitive all the way through."

All eyes narrowed in on a third set at No. 2 singles to decide the team advancing. There, a friendly affair took center stage between childhood friends Tatum Evers (NorthWood) and Jaycie Cress (Northridge).

After a first set went the way of Cress in a 7-5 win, NorthWood's Evers turned on the heat, more so after a brief pause in the action.

"That was kind of hard; I checked to make sure she was OK," said Evers on Cress who received a look from medical staff after experiencing a shortness of breath on the hot afternoon.

The two debated the score, settling on a 3-2 lead for Evers in the second set.

"I kind of took it to my advantage," Evers said on the unfortunate situation to her opposition. "I was like 'I need to pump this up, she's at her lowest, let's use this,' and I just kind of went from there."

Winning the second set 6-2 and forcing a deciding third set, Evers never allowed a game to go Cress' way, winning the final set 6-0 and giving the Panthers their third point of the night.

"She was not feeling great today, but Tatum earned it," Northridge head coach Judy Pollack said afterward. "They had a really tight match the last time they played so we knew it could go anyway tonight. Three-setters are tough, they can go anyway."

Cress had won 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 in the regular season in Middlebury. Evers used three rackets in the match, dealing with the reoccurrence of breaking strings.

It was the third court of the night to flip from the regular season 3-2 win the Raiders pulled off against NorthWood. The two teams finished tied for first in the NLC before tying for second at the NLC tournament.

Other flippers from the regular season matchup included NorthWood's Gabriela Poblador winning 7-6 (7-1), 7-5 at No. 3 singles and the Northridge No. 2 doubles team of Ava Schrock and Catherine Miller winning 6-4, 6-2 Tuesday afternoon.

"I felt like we played pretty good," Pollack said. "They played pretty well. NorthWood played better tonight at their home court and we played a little better at our home court. Their three singles was a key win for them [tonight]."

NorthWood earned the first point with a quick win in No. 1 doubles. Northridge evened the score at No. 2 doubles before Poblador gave NorthWood a 2-1 lead at No. 3 singles.

The No. 1 singles point went to Northridge's Saige Wheatley, but NorthWood's Britton Jesse made a key adjustment that threw Wheatley in a much tighter match than expected.

"We knew coming in we had to do something different in order for her to get into the match and it worked," Schwartz said on the adjustment Jesse made Tuesday. "We just made Saige hit a lot more balls. We just started to give her some deep balls, we put in lobs, we just started mixing in a bunch of junk and sometimes that's what you need to get off pace and off speed and it was effective for a while. We told her that we need her to be on the court for as long as she can be to make the other four courts know that we're competing. She did her job."

Wheatley won the match 6-4, 6-7 (1-7), 6-2 (a stark difference from the 6-1, 6-0 win earlier in the season), to force the No. 2 singles match to decide a winner. Wheatley's win will keep her alive in the individual tournament where Warsaw and Fairfield (Addie Mast) also await matchups.

INDIVIDUAL TOURNAMENT

The lone match of in the individual sectional round took place between Concord's duo of Dani Aplin and Addi May. May and Aplin faced a difficult matchup from South Bend Adams. The Minutemen pair still won 7-5, 6-3 to advance in the sectional. Warsaw's double's team will await them Thursday.

NORTHWOOD REGIONAL 16 — Quarterfinals

Winners advance to the championship match Wednesday afternoon at 5 p.m.

NorthWood def. Northridge 3-2

Penn def. Warsaw 3-2

NORTHWOOD VS. NORTHRIDGE

No. 1 singles: Saige Wheatley (NR) def. Britton Jesse (NW) 6-4, 6-7 (1-7), 6-2

Will play Warsaw Thursday in individual tournament

No. 2 singles: Tatum Evers (NW) def. Jaycie Cress (NR) 5-7, 6-2, 6-0

No. 3 singles: Gabriela Poblador (NW) def. Sage Granberg (NR) 7-6 (7-1), 7-5

No. 1 doubles: Emery Porter-Kaydence Dumka (NW) def. Alyssen Weesner-Elaina Duthie (NR) 6-2, 6-3

No. 2 doubles: Ava Schrock-Catherine Miller (NR) def. Maddy Birk-Maggie Steiner (NR) 6-4, 6-2

Order of finish: 1D, 2D, 3S, 1S, 2S

Records: NorthWood (15-4), Northridge (12-5)

INDIVIDUAL TOURNAMENT

(Concord) Dani Aplin-Addy May def. South Bend Adams 7-5, 6-3

Winner plays Warsaw Wednesday

Reach Matt Lucas at 574-533-2151, ext. 240325, or at matt.lucas@goshennews.com.