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Northview falls to West Vigo in sectional semifinal
While the win-loss record might not have shown a ton of progress from the start of the girls high school tennis season to the end, Northview head coach Joni Sutherland would beg to differ, pointing to the differences in the way her group hits the ball and, more importantly, think through the game while they’re on the court.
So, that’s what made the 4-1 loss to West Vigo in the Terre Haute South Sectional semifinal on Wednesday night a tough pill to swallow for the Lady Knights, who had it mapped out in their minds that they could – and maybe even should – be making the 30-minute bus ride back to the south side of Terre Haute again on Thursday for the sectional championship match.
“I really felt like we could’ve beaten this team, so I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t come out with a win tonight. With the way that we’ve been playing, I really thought we could’ve come out of this with a 3-2 win or even a 4-1 win,” said Sutherland. “I told the girls that if we could rewind and look back at what we were doing at the beginning of this season and then compared it to what we saw tonight, they would see that their shots have gotten better and their play at the net has gotten better. They’ve improved tremendously. I just wish we could have had a little more time together to keep working.”
Northview was competitive in a handful of its matches against West Vigo, but ultimately couldn’t string together enough points in a row to put the heat on the Vikings.
And even though the season concluded for the team on Wednesday, the Knights will still be represented at next week’s regional by Martina Sutherland at No. 1 singles after the senior defeated West Vigo’s Allie Lasecki in straight sets by scores of 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.
It was the third time Sutherland picked up a win over Lasecki during the course of her career, which as the third-year head coach noted afterwards, was a difficult task because any of those matches could have gone the other way.
“Those two [Sutherland and Lasecki] are always competitive and fun to watch. It’s always close between them and can go either way at any moment,” said Sutherland. “It’s going to be interesting to see some different teams in the regional. It’s really exciting to see her moving on.”
With the season-ending loss, Northview was forced to say goodbye to its three other seniors in Anna Keith, who was unable to play in Wednesday’s sectional semifinal due to an injury, Kambree James and Samantha Hendricks. Sutherland admitted it was difficult, like it always is when the season comes to a close, having their final team meeting but said she was grateful for the time she had with this particular group during their time as Northview Knights.
“This is a great group of girls. I’ve enjoyed being with them and getting to know them. Unfortunately, it’s over,” said Sutherland.