Score mixup doesn't stop Guilford from winning ultra-close NIC-10 girls tennis tourney
Win and Guilford would earn the NIC-10 title.
Lose and Hononegah would win it.
But who was winning?
With the conference girls tennis title on the line, both No. 2 doubles teams knew Hononegah had won the first game of the second set. And both knew Guilford had won the third game. But both thought they had won the second.
“We thought that they called a ball in when they said they called it out,” Guilford senior Amelia Runne said. “And then we called one of their balls out which they thought was in. It was confusion.”
By rule, the score reverted back to the last score they could agree on: Hononegah up 1-0 in the second set. That third game won by Guilford, even though both teams agreed on that, did not count. It was gone.
“Having to go back in the score, that was very stressful,” Guilford's Alexis Whitman said. “It was frustrating, but it’s tennis and it happens.”
What also seems to happen is if NIC-10 tennis comes down to a photo finish, Guilford wins. Runne and Whitman fell behind 4-1 in the second set but won the final five games in a row to take the No. 2 doubles title 6-1, 6-4 over Hononegah’s Katherine Chambers and Olivia Robinson in the final match of the tournament Saturday at Freeport.
That gave Guilford it’s second title in three years by less than a point. Teams earn two-tenths of a point in the regular season for each one of the five matches they win their nine dual meets, plus 10 points down to 1 for how they finish in each of the five divisions in the conference tourney. Guilford finished with 52 points to defending champion Hononegah’s 51.2. Auburn was third at 46.6.
What if Guilford’s No. 2 doubles team had lost that second set after having to give a game back?
“I would have been really angry,” Runne said, “but we would have gotten through it.
“Now we can laugh about it.”
Guilford has won a league-high 19 conference titles, but only four in the past 29 years. The Vikings won this one the same way they won the last: With great depth and help from everyone. Runne and Whitman were Guilford’s only champs, but the Vikings finished second or third in the other four divisions to eke out the title. That included Habiba Kamel hanging on to win 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) to take third at No. 1 singles — a point Guilford desperately needed.
“It means a lot that we can take home the title,” Kamel said. “We are all one big family and support each other. All of us girls worked for it. Even in the offseason, we would go up to Janesville and practice three times a week.”
Auburn junior Avery Trapp beat Hononegah’s Elle Loch 6-3, 6-0 to become Auburn’s seventh straight No. 1 singles champ. Belen Nevenhoven and Amy Park had won the previous six years.
“They are great players,” said Trapp, who won at No. 2 singles as a sophomore. “It is cool that I get a turn at 1 singles and follow in their footsteps.”
Hononegah sophomore Lacey Foss, in her first year on varsity, beat Guilford freshman Yeva Ksenafontova 6-3, 6-0 at No. 2 singles.
“I knew I had the game for it,” Foss said.
Auburn seniors Addysen Feng and Rebecca Wang repeated as No. 1 doubles champs. Hononegah’s Jackie Yoho and Harper Powell won at No. 3 doubles.
And Guilford’s Runne and Whitman won twice, both for themselves and their team. And had to win an extra game to do so.
“There are always those matches that are very memorable,” Runne said. “This is going to be one of them.”
Final NIC-10 girls tennis standings
Guilford, 52
Hononegah, 51.2
Auburn, 46.6
Harlem, 39.6
Boylan, 37.2
Belvidere North, 32.6
Freeport, 18.6
Belvidere, 17.4
East, 17.4
Jefferson, 7.2
Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Who knows the score? Guilford laughs about mixup after winning NIC-10
