Top tennis teams should not be playing so early

By RICHIE HALL
sports@readthereporter.com

Dear readers, I hope you will indulge The Reporter one more story about Westfield softball.

I talked with the Shamrocks seniors after their regional championship win Tuesday, June 2 for a feature, just in case Westfield won the trophy in its first-ever appearance at a softball semi-state. Unfortunately, the Rocks did not win, but why not write the story anyway. They’re a team that deserves to be celebrated.

The Carmel girls tennis team deserves to be celebrated, too. It’s hard to imagine the Greyhounds, who entered the season as 13-time state champions, would’ve been considered an underdog for a state title. But Carmel was ranked No. 3 heading into the sectional and played No. 1 Guerin Catholic in the championship.

As it turned out, the Hounds beat the Golden Eagles in a tough match. While the atmosphere was exciting, it was a total shame that a 1 vs. 3 matchup had to be played so early.

Yes, I am aware this is the nature of the beast in central Indiana. So many teams in so many sports around here are not just good, they’re excellent. It’s not the first time two highly-ranked teams have met in a sectional and it probably won’t be the last.

But I have to keep beating the drum for this. It just doesn’t seem right that a team that earns recognition from coaches across the state – that’s how the tennis rankings are compiled during the season – and then goes home empty-handed from the postseason because of geography.

So what to do? Carmel assistant coach Mark Branaman has an idea and he allowed me to put it on the record.

“Use the coaches’ rankings for what they’re intended for, to rank the best teams,” he said. “Take the top eight from the coaches’ rankings and distribute them out in the semi-state, so that those eight, while they could get beat along the way, wouldn’t meet until the state quarterfinals. It seems inappropriate that the top four teams in the state were in the same regional this year.”

These were the top eight teams, in order, listed in the Indiana High School Tennis Coaches Association’s May 17 rankings, released right before the postseason began: Guerin Catholic, Brebeuf Jesuit, Carmel, Park Tudor, Center Grove, Evansville Memorial, North Central, Munster.

I’m aware that since six of these teams are from Central Indiana, there would have been some travel involved for a couple of them. The tournament was realigned a couple years ago and it does make sense if you look at it geographically.

But it doesn’t feel right that the top four teams feed into the same regional. Park Tudor hosted Brebeuf in the sectional championship and won. With that, the top two teams were done before the regional round started.

A few days later, the Panthers are playing regional host Carmel in the championship, with the Greyhounds winning. Carmel had to beat three ranked teams – it beat No. 13 Zionsville in the first round of the sectional – just to get to the semi-state.

The individual tournament was affected, too. Brebeuf lost in the team competition, but its No. 1 singles player Chloe Wendowski won her match, moving her into the individual event. Wendowski is a favorite to win state.

University’s Laurel Buttrick, one of the best players in the state, wound up having to face Wendowski in the individual sectional and lost. Had she not had to face Wendowski so early, there’s a good chance Buttrick could have gone far in the tournament.

There has to be a better way.

This is high school sports, and no one should be traveling far to play in athletic events, especially not on school nights. But Coach Branaman is right – it is inappropriate to have the top four teams in the same regional.

I have opinions about this, but I also have some ideas. Stay tuned.