NIC powers Saint Joseph, Penn claim IHSAA boys tennis semistate titles

The Northern Indiana Conference has always been known for its quality on the boy’s tennis side.

That fact was never more evident than on Saturday.

More: Jacob Hix is Northern Indiana Conference boys tennis MVP

More: Saint Joseph, Penn boys tennis teams claim IHSAA regional championships

Saint Joseph’s and Penn, the pair of perennial powers in the NIC, each punched their tickets to the eight-team State Finals with semistate championships.

No. 15 St. Joe turned back Western 3-2 to win the Culver Academy Semistate crown, while No. 16 Penn prevailed over No. 12 Homestead 3-2 in a thriller to win the Homestead Semistate title.

St. Joe (17-1) advances to play No. 5 Columbus North Friday in the quarterfinals at state at 10 a.m. at North Central High School in Indianapolis. Penn (23-4) will face No. 4 Center Grove, also on Friday at 10 a.m. in a quarterfinal match at North Central.

Hix brothers power Huskies

St. Joe, powered again by its outstanding brother duo of Jacob and Oliver Hix, claimed the program’s sixth semistate title and first since 2016.

Sophomore Jacob Hix beat Eli Mast 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 singles and freshman Oliver Hix topped Evan Trauring 6-3, 6-4 to lead the way for the Huskies.

“I don’t have to worry about them,” said St. Joe coach Matthew Halfpenny Saturday by phone about the Hix brothers. “I know each match that they are ready to go. They are focused and understand what they need to do to be prepared and it shows in their performance.

“What Jacob has done at No. 1 is really special. I look back to his only loss at Homestead and that really got him going and changed his trajectory since then.

“Oliver had a great day. He had a tough opponent and he really handled it well, especially as a freshman.”

Jacob, who was the NIC MVP, and Oliver are both now 16-1 on the season.

The Huskies also won at No. 2 doubles as senior Cormac Kennedy and sophomore Jack Mattison beat Alex Aaron and Brady Thompson 6-0, 6-4. The St. Joe duo is now 15-3.

“Our guys are excited to win this,” noted second-year coach Halfpenny. “It was a highly competitive match in a great environment and we had tremendous support. Especially for our (five) seniors, this means a lot. It’s been a while since St. Joe won semistate and this is their first time doing it.

“Even though we were up 3-0, it was competitive all the way around. My goal was for our doubles teams to mesh well and they have done that. Cormac and Jack have done a tremendous job.”

Western, which finished at 19-3, got wins at No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles. Charlie Gilbert beat sophomore Ben Brady 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 at No. 3 singles play. The duo of Aidan Mawbey and Kaleb York topped seniors Jake Westberry and Nick Nguyen 6-2, 7-5 at No. 1 doubles. Brady is now 13-5, while Westberry and Nguyen are 15-2.

The Huskies, who beat Penn to win the NIC title, lost in the semistate to Carmel last year. Their lone loss this season was to Homestead.

“We’re thrilled to advance, but not satisfied,” Halfpenny said looking ahead to State. “Why not keep going? I feel pretty good about the opportunities in front of us.”

Penn prevails in a thriller

The Kingsmen made sure that the final season for their longtime coach Eric Bowers would be one to remember.

Penn turned around a 3-2 regular-season loss to Homestead with a dramatic win over the powerful Spartans on their own court for a thrilling semistate championship.

The Kingsmen, who won their fifth semistate overall and first since 2013, clinched the win as juniors Jacob Kyle and Ben Stambaugh won over senior Eli Hallman and junior Will Miller 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles for the third and clinching point of the marathon contest. Kyle and Stambaugh improved to 15-4.

Bowers announced earlier this season that he is stepping down as boys coach at the end of the season. He is 263-71 in 15 seasons as the Kingsmen boys coach and was an assistant prior to that. The former standout player at NorthWood High School plans to continue as the Penn girls coach next spring. He is 262-67 in 15 seasons as the girls coach.

“It’s a lot of fun to end up on the winning end of a real tight match like this one,” said Bowers by phone Saturday. “Our girls team lost here 3-2 on this court back in the Spring (to Fort Wayne Carroll in the semistate), so it’s really good to be on the 3-2 side of this one today.

“I said before the match that it would be 3-2 and I just hoped that we were on the correct side of that. We’re super excited that we are and I’m super happy for my three senior captains (Chris Chen, Evan Knapp and Noah Sytsma) especially. They are a special group. They have put in the work to get this and have come close in the past.”

Penn also got a win at No. 3 singles as junior Quinn Lippert beat senior John Cowan 6-3, 6-3. Lippert, who is now 21-3, was out due to illness and did not play in the 3-2 loss to Homestead back on Sept. 21.

The Kingsmen also won at No. 1 doubles as freshman Josh Weaver and senior Noah Sytsma beat senior Devesh Vamadevan and sophomore Will Miller 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Weaver and Sytsma improved to 20-2.

“Our No. 2 doubles lost to Homestead the last time so it was great to see them get the final point today,” Bowers said. “Our No. 1 doubles team just stayed positive against a very tough team.

“We had a different lineup today than the first time against them with Quinn back. I also think that playing the tough teams that we did on our schedule prepared us for a match like this one today too.”

The host Spartans won at No. 1 singles as junior Ben Garrean beat senior Chris Chen 6-3, 6-2. Homestead also took the No. 2 singles match as junior Eric Ji stopped senior Evan Knapp 6-0, 6-3. Chen is 20-5 and Knapp 19-6 for the Kingsmen.

Homestead, which has won 23 semistate titles, was a state finalist each of the past two seasons. The Spartans finished at 21-5 this season.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Saint Joseph, Penn claim IHSAA boys tennis semistate titles