By RYAN WALKER
Norwell’s tennis season came to a screeching halt at the hands of No. 26 Homestead Wednesday night in the regional championship match. But like the first meeting between the two teams, it wasn’t without a fight.
The Knights gave the Spartans another 3-2 game, this time on a neutral site at Bluffton. In the beginning, all but No. 1 singles was ahead for Norwell at the time before Homestead came back and stole the first set from No. 2 singles and doubles.
Homestead’s Macy Parker got the Spartans on the board first at No.1. singles, but was quickly followed by Norwell’s Macie Saalfrank with a win at No. 3 singles.
All matches between the two winners were tight and nearly took a full three hours to complete. But Homestead clinched a team victory, winning at No. 2 singles and doubles.
“We came in as underdogs, and we gave him everything that we had we think made it close and really made Homestead really nervous,” Norwell head coach Holly Kimball said after the match. “To come out with a two-three loss against state-ranked Homestead team is really good for us. Still proud of them.”
The second point was the most difficult for Norwell, but meant the most.
Annabelle Johnson and Macy Felger were fighting for team points for the majority of the match, but after realizing the match was out of hand, they were both solely playing to keep their individual tournament hopes alive.
The No. 1 doubles team was unbeaten in the postseason and, therefore, eligible to advance in the sectional individual tournament as was Homestead’s team.
Johnson and Felger locked up the first set 6-2, but the Spartans’ team of Grace Hansen and Caroline Meier won the second by one point. The match went all the way down to a tiebreaker in the third and final set. After many tries, the Knights’ duo got it done and conquered victory 6-2, 6-7, 7-6 (8-6). Johnson and Felger will now play Maconaquah’s No. 1 doubles team in the sectional at 5 p.m. Thursday, May 23 at Bluffton.
“You’re always excited for the seniors, when they win, and they get to go on,” Kimball said. “So, the fight that they had, especially to come back after they lost three games is phenomenal. And to pull it out in a tiebreaker was great. Everybody’s really proud of them, and I’m looking forward to bringing a whole team tomorrow to support him again.”
As a team, Norwell’s group was led by five seniors: Johnson and Felger, Jordyn Xayyachack, Ciera Hiester and Addy Heyerly, who will be dearly missed both on and off the court. The core five were leaders and lifted the Knights’ program to four Northeast 8 Conference titles and three sectional championships in their tenure. But they made an impact off the court as well.
“I think part of what they leave is just a good culture,” Kimball said. “They welcome in the new people, we don’t have any juniors, so hopefully the sophomores will step up next year and continue that culture of acceptance and try to grow the program and invite anybody who wants to play. Because you can see during a lot of these matches, it’s a team when the other girls weren’t on the court, but they’re cheering for one doubles and it makes a huge difference when you have a team around you.”
Individual results:
• Macy Parker (H) defeated Addy Heyerly 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.
• Layla Kelly (H) defeated Delaney Hoover 7-5, 6-1 at No. 2 singles.
• Macie Saalfrank (N) defeated Stella Adams 6-2, 7-5 at No. 3 singles.
• Annabelle Johnson and Macy Felger (N) defeated Grace Hansen and Caroline Meier 6-2, 6-7, 7-6 (8-6) at No. 1 doubles.
• Elaina Schilt and Nadie Cowan (H) defeated Jordyn Xayyachack 7-5, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles.
