Bloomington South’s girls tennis team took another step deeper into the postseason this year and how they got there was one of the best moments in Matt Corry’s career as a head coach.
For nearly three hours, the Panthers gave No. 29 Plainfield all it could handle before the Quakers came away with a 4-1 win in the finals of the Brownsburg Regional on Wednesday, May 27. Changes made in the back half of the season helped make the run possible.
“I feel the way we finished the year, this is probably my greatest amount of pride in all the seasons I’ve coached,” Corry said. “They trusted me and they learned how to study film, evaluate their matches. And they trusted me in taking hard looks at their own struggles and were willing to be coached and make changes, and they were willing to bond together.
“That last part was huge. I can make lineup changes all day, but with tennis especially, there’s a lot of work behind the scenes, especially going from singles to doubles or doubles to singles. They trusted my decisions, and they went out and played their hearts out.”
The big moves were moving senior Hannah Vandeventer from 3 singles to 2 doubles, and a new pairing with Addy Prall, and having Nia Johnson go from doubles to 3 singles and sharing that spot with senior Stella Ham.
“Hannah played singles all last year and a majority of this year, so getting put in a new partnership on the fly and going on and giving it her best shot was a big difference maker,” Corry said. “Nia and Stella’s positivity was also a difference maker.”
On Tuesday, South took down Greencastle 3-2, avenging last year’s semifinals loss.
Grace Dykstra and Hamm each won tough matches at 2-3 singles, 6-4, 6-4, while Prall and Vandeventer pulled out a 6-1, 6-7, 6-1 win to clinch the win. Demeter fell 6-1, 6-0 to Allison Landrey, a regional qualifier last year in singles, and the Panthers lost 6-3, 6-4 at 1 doubles.
South’s only win came against Plainfield, with Dykstra at 2 singles, 6-2, 4-6, (10-8). At 1 doubles, Clara Tweedie and Mira Koduri suffered a tough 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 loss while Prall and Vandeventer lost 6-3, 6-1. At 1 singles, Carla Demeter fell 6-2, 6-4, and at 3 singles, Johnson lost 6-0, 6-1.
“The growth was beyond what I had expected and hoped for,” Corry said. “We spent 2½ hours before the third point fell, so we absolutely had a chance to win last night.
“When that third point fell, there was a smiley face. They gave everything they could. I’m super proud of them. Getting to the final 32 in the state is a pretty impressive feat.”
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington South girls tennis took big strides to make regional final
Reporting by Jim Gordillo, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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