Manchester Tennis Season Ends At Regional
Manchester Girls’ Tennis traveled to Bluffton for the Indiana Regional tournament.
Homestead defeated Huntington North in one side of the bracket and Manchester faced Norwell in the other contest.
Manchester came out swinging and playing at a high level. Myla Crozier would dazzle with her all-court play as the sensational sophomore would turn an early 2-3 deficit into a landslide victory with 10 straight games won. “Myla finished the season playing her best tennis as she completely dominated her opponent with athleticism and amazing serves and net play,” remarked Coach Joel Eichenauer. Thirty minutes later, Norwell would even the score with a win at 3 singles as Bethany Penrod battled many long points deuce games despite losing 1-6, 2-6. “Bethany’s score didn’t reflect the many points she won as we couldn’t quite close out the close games. I was impressed that she held on tough until the end.”
In the one doubles matchup Manchester’s Carleigh Blevins and Addison Brubaker played a fantastic opening set winning 6-3. The momentum turned against them the rest of the way as games barely ended a point shy of game victories. “These two were fun to watch all season long as they played at a high level of tennis. I was proud of how they competed despite the end result.” The two doubles duo of Hailey Krom and Kate Schroll got an early 3-0 lead before things tightened up and Norwell inched back to take the lead 5-4. Manchester came inches away from tying it up at 5-5 all but the set slipped away 4-6. Set two was closely contested with great points but the nearly 2 hour contest ended with a set two 2-6 defeat. “Hailey and Kate played great at the net and we saw some of their best ever tennis tonight. What great competitors and players they are!”
The longest match of the night was at one singles as Sarah Kerlin played a talented player and nearly pulled off the upset. Kerlin clawed back from a 1-4 deficit and nearly evened the score at 4-4 before barely losing 3-6. Set two was even longer and tighter as Sarah traded games until 4-5. Kerlin would take the game to even it at 5 apiece and have several game points to go up 6-5 before dropping the long game. Sarah wouldn’t give in as she forced a tiebreaker at 6 games all before losing the tiebreaker points and the match. Manchester’s seniors led the team this year to an undefeated regular season and back to back conference titles. Manchester’s sectional title was their 6th in 12 seasons. Manchester ends the year at 14-1 in its best season ever and returns many talented players in anticipation of a strong 2025 campaign. Coaches Nikki Briner and Joel Eichenauer appreciate all the support from tennis families, community friends, and the 29 outstanding team members. Thank you!
