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Lady Vike netgirls are sectional champs

Huntington North third singles player Tarah Zumbrun returns a shot to Norwell's Grace White during the championship meet of the Norwell Girls' Tennis Sectional on Saturday morning, May 19. Zumbrun beat White and the Lady Vikes went on to win the sectional.
Huntington North third singles player Tarah Zumbrun returns a shot to Norwell's Grace White during the championship meet of the Norwell Girls' Tennis Sectional on Saturday morning, May 19. Zumbrun beat White and the Lady Vikes went on to win the sectional. Photo by Steve Clark.

The Huntington North High School girls’ tennis team posted a 3-2 win over Norwell to capture the Norwell Sectional title on Saturday, May 19.

The Lady Vikings, 15-4, recorded the first two victories of the match -- triumphing at third singles and second doubles -- to take control of the contest. While the Lady Knights would get on the board with a win at first singles, Coach Blake Childs’ squad triumphed shortly thereafter at first doubles to claim the sectional crown.

At third singles, senior Tarah Zumbrun made quick work of Grace White, winning 6-0, 6-1. The second doubles tilt saw seniors Braxtyn Maroney and Leann Ringenberg dispatch Abby Hoover and Ashlee Xayyachack, 6-3, 6-4. Juniors Macy Wohlford and Jule Nogaj then rounded out Huntington North’s victories with a 6-4, 6-3 decision over Madison Oaks and Sadie Mann in the first doubles contest.

For the Lady Vikings, the win avenged a loss to Norwell in Northeast 8 Conference play on May 10. The narrow outcome of that match, however, 2-3, gave Huntington North hope that a second meeting might unfold differently.

“We walked away thinking that we could beat them,” said Childs. “It was a lot of close matches right down the line. So, we had confidence … thinking, you know, this is a match we can win.”

Childs said the Lady Knights’ aggressiveness gave them the edge in the teams’ first encounter. Going into their second meeting, he says he preached to his team the importance of matching their tenacity.

“I told them, I said, ‘I think we can win the match; we just have to have that energy level and not be back playing on our heels,’” he said. “‘Instead, let’s go after them.’

“And I think it paid off for us today.”

As for the Lady Vikings’ defeats, junior Jessica Henline lost her No. 1 singles match to Breann Barger, 5-7, 5-7, while senior Kassidy Thompson suffered a 6-7, 6-3, 2-6 setback to Molly Burton in the second singles tilt.

With the sectional title, the program’s first since 2015, Huntington North moves on to the Carroll Regional, where it will take on Concordia Lutheran on Tuesday, May 22, at 4:15 p.m.