While the IHSAA team state tournament for tennis ended last weekend, the state individual tournament rolled on into Friday afternoon, with the quarterfinals for the singles tournament taking place at North Central High School in Indy. Representing Kosciusko County was Warsaw junior Addison Lind and her 27-0 record. She took on North Lawrence senior Isabelle May, who came in at 19-0. In what was a grueling, exhilarating and incredibly tight match, May ended up victorious with a 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) win.
May got off to a quick start in the match, taking the first two games of the first set to get out to an early lead. Lind had an answer for her though, taking the third game in what was an extremely competitive, back-and-forth duel to get herself on the board. Lind would take the next game as well, using some incredible offensive play to keep May on her toes and even things up. The senior from Lawrence North used her serve to get back on top in game three, going up 3-2 as the two athletes switched sides.
Serving once more, Lind got back to putting the pressure on May, and it paid off, as she was able to win the next game rather easily to tie things up once again. The trend of the server having the upper hand continued as May went back up in front, coming back from down 30-love to win the set and go up 4-3.
The extremely close match continued to be decided by razor-thin margins as the two players switched sides once more, with Lind once again tying things up before May was able to jump back out in front with a win to go up 5-4 going into a pivotal 10th game.
The massive game would go to May, as a 40-0 start to the match for the senior was just enough to hold off a furious comeback by Lind, putting the Warsaw junior down a set after a 6-4 victory for May.
Despite the loss, Lind was able to bounce back nicely to begin the second set of the match, winning the first game to take her first lead of the match. The next game took a bit longer to decide, as a deuce was needed to break the tie after both athletes seized momentum at numerous points in the contest. Eventually, May would secure a win to tie things up yet again. Now playing with some swagger, May used a wicked serve and some tremendous ball placement to win her second game in a row, putting her in front 2-1 at the next side switch.
For the first time in the match, one of the players was able to hold a two-game advantage as May won her third in a row. It was a set that saw a series of bad breaks go against Lind, including a shot that was heading out but hit the junior in the foot, followed by a shot by May that barely grazed the net and died at the front of Lind’s side of the court. Momentum was fully on the side of North Lawrence’s undefeated player now, as she took her fourth game in a row to get out to an imposing 4-1 lead.
A fifth straight win by May would put Lind on the brink of elimination. Not done yet, Lind begin her comeback effort with a win in the next game, snapping May’s streak while also getting a little bit of momentum back on her side. The Warsaw junior continued to creep her way back into things with yet another win in the next game to make it 5-3. After the next game, momentum was fully on Lind’s side, as three straight wins made it 5-4 with Lind needing just one more win to get the monkey of elimination off of her back.
The next game personified just how much of a war this match had become. Facing match point, Lind was able to battle back and force a deuce. From there, the real match began, as both players held the advantage multiple times, and after sxi deuces, Lind was finally able to string two points together to win her fourth in a row and even things up at 5-5.
May was finally able to stop the bleeding during the next game, which went to deuce once more. This time around. The senior wasted no time ending the game, winning both points to go back up 6-5 in the set and put Lind’s back against the wall once more. She wouldn’t stay in front for long, winning the next game, giving up just one point and forcing the all-important tie breaker.
May got out to an early lead in the first-to-seven decider, going up 4-2 before the players switched sides. She’d go up 6-3, but Lind, playing at her best with no options left, scored three straight to tie things up at 6-6. The two warriors kept battling, trading points as the win-by-two threshold had not yet been met. Now facing a third set, May reached deep into the tank and pulled out three straight points to win the tiebreaker 10-8, the set 7-6, and the match.
Lind will return next year for her senior season.