‘This is the most fun I’ve ever had:’ After making history vs. Warsaw, Valley’s season ends vs. Columbia City

Hallstrom, M. Parker advance to state doubles tournament

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Tippecanoe Valley No. 1 doubles players Maci Parker, left, and Karley Hallstrom defeated Alivia Houser and Caroline Stamm of Columbia City 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 in the sectional final at Warsaw Friday and will continue on in the state doubles tournament at NorthWood next week against an opponent to be determined. Valley lost 4-1, ending their season. Parker and Hallstrom are in their second year as a doubles team.

WARSAW — One day after their historic win against Warsaw, the Tippecanoe Valley girls tennis team’s season ended with a 4-1 loss to Columbia City in the sectional final at Warsaw Friday.

Karley Hallstrom and Maci Parker earned Valley’s only point with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 win at No. 1 doubles over Alivia Houser and Caroline Stamm. Hallstrom and Parker will continue on in the state doubles tournament next week.

That means that first-year coach Zack Shambaugh’s season will continue as well. It’s an experience that Shambaugh, a 2004 Valley grad who later played collegiately at Marian University, has cherished.

“I’ve played a lot of tennis in my life,” Shambaugh said. “I’ve been playing this game since I was 4. I’ve been a coach’s son for 40 years. Between playing in the USTA (United States Tennis Association) as a teenager to playing high school tennis at Valley to playing collegiately, this is the most fun I’ve ever had with these girls. … They are a cohesive unit. They root for each other. They are a tennis team, and I couldn’t be prouder of the way we performed today.”

Hallstrom and Parker’s match was the only match that went three sets.

Olivia More knocked off Valley’s Savana Miller 6-1, 6-3 at No. 1 singles. Anna Lortie beat Bella Parker 6-4, 6-0 at No. 2 singles.

Kinley Crabb and Maycee Koch jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set against Morgan Furthmiller and Sola Holler, but the Columbia City pair came back to win 6-1, 6-3.

That gave Columbia City the clinching point and their first girls tennis sectional title since 1981. They will play Northridge in a regional semifinal at NorthWood Tuesday.

Valley was trying for their first sectional title ever.

Hallstrom and Parker then finished off their match.

Hallstrom and Parker admit to having different personalities. Hallstrom is more emotional and vocal on the court while Parker admitted to being more reserved.

“Me and Maci are polar opposites,” Hallstrom said. “I am more loud and outgoing, and Maci’s more shy and quiet. And together, it’s perfect.”

Said Maci Parker: “We balance each other out for sure. She makes me more loud, and I tone her down.”

They won 10 of the first 12 games before Houser and Stamm won five consecutive games to force a third set.

At that point, Hallstrom and Parker said their wills won out.

“We really just had to talk to each other and say, ‘Hey, it’s a new game. We have nothing to lose. We might as well just go all out and do our game,’” Hallstrom said. “That’s what we always say.”

Said Maci Parker: “And that’s exactly what we did.”

Hallstrom said she considers Houser and Stamm to be rivals.

“It definitely created a little fire under both of us,” Maci Parker said.

Said Hallstrom: “I think both teams just really wanted it, and that made it more fast-paced.”

Sadie Leyse beat Adela Cerna 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 singles, slowing down the pace with multiple deep lobs. Cerna is a foreign exchange student from the Czech Republic.

She was perhaps the most emotional of the players when it was over.

“Adela gets very aggressive, and today, her shots weren’t falling,” Shambaugh said. “That’s not typically like her.”

She, Hallstrom and Maci Parker are the departing players.

“It’s unfortunate because we were in the championship, and we all really wanted it so bad, but we know that we have their support for us,” Maci Parker said. “They worked their hardest. We know. We’re still a team, no matter what.”

More’s strategy appeared to involve forcing Miller to move around the court. When she was not hitting her groundstrokes deep, she was placing immaculate drop shots just barely over the net.

“I was noticing she was making Savana move a lot,” Shambaugh said. “That one was on me. I didn’t catch how to beat her until she was three games down in the second (set). Columbia City had a good (number) one player. We have a good (number) one player too. We didn’t get a lot of practice time. We’ve seen Columbia City once this year, and we didn’t get to prepare for it, so that one was on me.”

A quick second set followed a high-intensity first set between Bella Parker and Lortie.

“Bella took her foot off the gas, and that has been her Achilles heel all year,” Shambaugh said. “She starts out fast, and then she lets up. She’s a sophomore. Her and Savana are both sophomores. So we will get it fixed, and we will be back next year.”

Crabb, a sophomore, and Koch, a junior, got off to slow starts all year, according to Shambaugh.

“They always come out slow,” Shambaugh said. “I think every single match has been three sets. Normally, they get the last two. It didn’t happen today.”

Valley was playing their third match in three days while Columbia City was playing their second match in two days. Valley eliminated Warsaw 4-1 Thursday in the semifinals, ending Warsaw’s run of 24 consecutive sectional titles.

It was unclear whether Valley had ever beaten Warsaw in girls tennis prior to Thursday.

Hallstrom called the win over Warsaw “the best moment of my life.”

“I grew up a Valley boy,” Shambaugh said. “We’ve had glimpses at them. And it always seemed like when we did beat them, we’d lose to Wawasee or something. But beating Warsaw. … I was a high school freshman when that streak started. So being the team that brought that down, that was enough for me for a successful season.

“Would I have liked to hold up that sectional trophy? Of course. But you know what? These girls, they left it all out there yesterday. They had nothing left in the tank.”

Results: Columbia City 4, Tippecanoe Valley 1

Singles

Olivia More (CC) def. Savana Miller (TV), 6-1, 6-3

Anna Lortie (CC) def. Bella Parker (TV), 6-4, 6-0

Sadie Leyse (CC) def. Adela Cerna (TV), 6-2, 6-1

Doubles

Karley Hallstrom-Maci Parker (TV) def. Alivia Houser-Caroline Stamm (CC), 6-1, 4-6, 6-1

Kinley Crabb-Maycee Koch (TV) def. Morgan Furthmiller-Sola Holler (CC), 6-1, 6-3