Trojans capture second straight regional crown

Updated: May 25, 2011 10:59PM

HIGHLAND — Forgive the Highland girls tennis team if its players had trouble sleeping on Tuesday night. After avenging a regular-season loss to rival Munster in the opening round of regional action, several players said the adrenaline rush kept them awake at night.

“I only got about four hours of sleep,” said Vanessa Madrigal, Highland’s No. 1 singles player.

“I don’t know if I slept at all,” said Meredith Garcia, one half of Highland’s No. 2 doubles pairing.

But the Trojans were able to put aside that sleep deprivation and continue their season, defeating Crown Point 3-2 to win their second consecutive regional championship.

“It was still nerve-wracking, having the two-day event,” said Highland coach Adam Baez, who also admitted to a sleepless Tuesday night. “I was very nervous going into today because of the high we were on after beating Munster, and Crown Point was a very good team.”

Tuesday’s match with Munster came down to a tiebreaker in the final match. Highland’s victory on Wednesday came much easier, as the Trojans won the first three matches to seal the championship.

“I think we’re still overwhelmed from Tuesday’s win, but we had to realize that our season wasn’t over yet,” said Highland sophomore Aby Madrigal. “We had to keep playing.”

Vanessa Madrigal was the first winner for the Trojans, defeating Crown Point’s Kelsey Ingelhart 6-0, 6-0. Liz Quinn and Aby Madrigal combined to earn Highland’s second point, defeating the Bulldogs’ No. 1 doubles pairing of Kelly Gross and Gabby Touchette 6-2, 6-0.

And just like Tuesday, Highland’s No. 2 doubles tandem provided the clinching point, topping Crown Point’s Kristin Overbey and Mackenzie Shelley 6-3, 6-3.

The Bulldogs’ points came from No. 2 and No. 3 singles. Amber Haworth won the day’s longest match over Lan Franczek 6-7, 6-3, 6-3, and Abby Kvachkoff defeated Highland’s Sarah Hojnicki 6-2, 6-2.

“Highland’s a good team, I have a lot of respect for them,” said Crown Point head coach Brian Elston. “The fact that our team is here and we competed well against them … that makes me happy.”

Highland was also the host of the Individual Sectional Tournament. KV’s Abbey Hamstra took home the crown with two victories — and she never lost a set.

She beat EC Central’s Ashley Pabey first, then — after resting for about 25 minutes — she dispatched Bishop Noll’s Stacey Krahn 6-0, 6-0, to run her record to 21-1 this year.

“I felt like I played really well today,” said Hamstra. “It seems like I’m playing my best tennis at the right point of the season.”

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