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Carmel edges Saint Joseph for Girls Tennis Crown
GREENWOOD – Carmel cut things about as close as a team can, but the Greyhounds are still the queens of Indiana high school tennis.
Senior Elyse Nelson pulled out a three-set victory (5-7, 6-3, 6-4) at No. 2 singles to lift Carmel to a 3-2 win over South Bend Saint Joseph in the championship match at Center Grove High School.
Nelson’s win, along with wins at both doubles spots gave first-year coach Daniel Brunette’s squad its third-consecutive state championship. It also marked the program’s 10th title in the last 14 tournaments played and the 13th overall. In fact, Carmel is now 13-0 in state-title matches.
“Nope, you can’t cut it any closer,” Brunette, the former coach at North Central, where he won three state titles as boys coach from 2013-15. “At two singles, we were down a set and 0-3 in the second set, but, in athletics, anything can happen, and you just have to keep going.”
The fact that Nelson kept going is perhaps a testament to the tradition of the Carmel program. Saint Joseph came in as the top-ranked team in the final state poll based on its 3-2 win over Carmel on May 12.
Coach Bill Mountford’s team featured former individual state champion Molly Bellia at one singles and the Amalnathan sisters, Ashi and Anni, at two and three. That trio combined for only three losses all season, and each provided a point in the earlier win over the Greyhounds.
So, after Saint Joe earned its spot in the final with a 4-1 win over Franklin in the morning semifinal and Carmel took out neighborhood-rival Fishers in its semifinal by the same, 4-1 count, Mountford’s squad came in poised to claim its first state title since 2010.
Carmel (24-2) took the first point in the final with two doubles Marina Duncan and Alex Widjala taking a 6-2, 6-1 win over Lily Mayfield and Maggie Nguyen. Saint Joseph evened the score with a hard-fought, 6-2, 7-6 (4) win by Anni Amalnathan over Grace Kim at No. 3.
Ali Griffin and Alexa Lewis won in straight sets at one doubles for Carmel before Bellia overcame a sluggish start to post a 7-5, 6-0 victory at one singles.
That left it up to Nelson and Ashi Amalnathan to decide the title on the warm, breezy late afternoon and early in the second set, it appeared Carmel’s reign might end.
“When I was down, I kept thinking about my team and how my match was the decider,” Nelson said. “I just kept fighting. I was taking more time between points and trying to breathe easier and my teammates there cheering for me really helped.”
“Elyse was very focused today,” Brunette said. “She had to change up her hitting patterns and serve more efficiently. She couldn’t let Ashi control the points.”
Nelson broke serve in the third game of the final set and never trailed again, giving Carmel the title.
It was a bitterly disappointing loss for Saint Joe, which was eliminated by Carmel in the semifinals in 2022 and lost, 4-1, to the Greyhounds in the title match in 2021.
“You just have to give credit to Carmel,” Mountford said. “It was hard for us to have only three spots to win and you have to thread a needle. But, my top four players are returning, so we have a chance to come back.”
Saint Joseph finishes 19-4.
Jasper's Wigand receives Mental Attitude Award
Following the match, the IHSAA Executive Committee announced Ally Wigand, Jasper High School's No. 3 singles player, as the recipient of the Mental Attitude Award presented by Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance.
Wigand is the daughter of Marc and Amy Wigand of Jasper, IN. Also, a three-year qualifier for the Girls Cross Country State Finals, Ally will attend Purdue University to study Biological Engineering.
Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance presented $1,000 to Jasper High School's general scholarship fund, in the name of Ally Wigand.