Brickies win first title in 27 years

MERRILLVILLE -- Merrillville's top two singles players, Kelsey Barrick and Allison Kish, quickly got the Pirates up 2-0 in their sectional championship matchup against Hobart on Thursday.

But the Brickies didn't lay down, rallying to even it at 2-2 and putting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity into the hands of No. 3 singles player Cristina Toma.

In the third set of Toma's match against Julie Hays, Toma slapped a forehand to the outreached right hand of Hays that deflected the ball out of play, giving Toma the marathon match -- 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-3 -- and the Brickies their first sectional title in 27 years with a 3-2 victory.

The first-year varsity player's hands went straight to her head in shock as her teammates screamed.

"I was ecstatic and I'm still shaking," said Toma as her hands trembled. "It felt great being able to look over at my teammates, who are like a family to me and having them knowing that I could win."

Toma's sensational threehour match would have been in vain if it hadn't been for the gritty effort from the Brickies' No. 1 doubles team of Sally Kratkoczki and Meredith White. The pair trailed the Pirates' team of Pauline Laordan and Ashley Cherry 3-0 in the second set after dropping the first set 3-6, but battled all the way back to win (3-6, 6-4, 6-2).

"I just got jacked, we were giving points away," Kratkoczki said.

Kratkoczki got very vocal during the match after they almost were completely run over by the Pirates pair. She could be overheard telling her partner over and over that everything was going to be OK.

"Yeah, that definitely helped and we knew we could do it," White said of Kratkoczki's positive reinforcement.

Kratkoczki and White are both still alive in the individual doubles tournament by winning earlier in the day against Andrean's Elizabeth Mirabella and Charlotte Castor.

Barrick is also still in the hunt for a singles state title as she rolled with a victory over the Brickies' Brittany Morton (6-2, 6-0) and Lew Wallace's Monica Gales.

The Pirates defeated the Hornets 5-0 to advance to the championship against the Brickies, while the Brickies knocked off the 59ers 4-1.

The duo of Jennifer Syjut and Stephanie Bachmann also claimed a huge victory over Jennifer Tucker and Hanni Reynolds at No. 2 doubles (4-6, 6-4, 6-2).

Kish defeated Abigail Lams (6-4, 6-2) at No. 2 singles.