Article published May 29, 2007 Munster rolls right along CURT RALLO Tribune Staff Writer LAPORTE -- Poor weather conditions delayed the high school girls semistate at LaPorte from Saturday to Monday, but there was no delaying the inevitable as Munster rolled through the semistate field to earn a berth in next Saturday's state finals. Munster knocked off Culver Girls Academy, 5-0, in the semistate championship match. The Mustangs, 18-0 and last season's state runner-up, meet Jasper next Saturday at Indianapolis North Central in the first semifinal match. Defending state champion Park Tudor plays Homestead in the other semifinal. CGA's season ends with a 14-6 record. CGA beat Elkhart Central, 4-1, in the morning match to reach the semistate championship match. Munster topped Michigan City, 5-0, to advance.For Munster, patience was a victory. Munster's Maureen Modesto, 24-0 this season, typified Munster's on-court composure in her 6-3, 6-0 victory against CGA's Romina Clemente. Modesto tracked down Clemente's groundstroke bullets and fired back returns that frequently ended up being batted into the net by an increasingly frustrated Clemente. Clemente, who placed fourth in the state last season as a sophomore, ends this season 22-1. She is 66-3 in her career. Munster coach Bob Modesto said that the difference was that he fields a line-up that boasts seven players with United States Tennis Association tournament experience, compared to two players for Culver. "We have some kids with a little more (off-season tournament) experience than that, but certainly, it's a factor, No. 1," said CGA coach Alan Loehr. "No. 2, they're very good players, they're very well coached. That's a factor."I thought one of the keys was they showed a lot of patience," Loehr continued. "On the three courts where at least we were in them, there was a moment where it could have gone our way. There weren't very many opportunities, but they were able to hang on, take those games to deuce multiple times and then eventually win out. We just couldn't get any separation. I thought that was the third factor." Loehr said that he was pleased that his team ended up reaching the Elite Eight of the state tournament. "I'm very proud of the way our girls came together, losing four very close matches in the middle of the season," Loehr said. "Things did not look good for us as a team. Whatever it was, they got together and they decided, 'let's make a run at this thing. Let's beat some teams that beat us and represent ourselves and represent the school well,' and they did all that." MUNSTER 5, CULVER GIRLS ACADEMY 0 Singles: No. 1 Maureen Modesto beat Romina Clemente, 6-3, 6-0; No. 1 Mary Hill beat JessicaKutch, 6-0, 6-0; No. 3 Christina Lee beat Brady Banks, 6-0, 6-0. Doubles: No. 1 Katelyn Laszlo-Samantha Tantillo beat Claire Strebinger-Alex Medard, 7-5, 6-2; No. 2 Rachael Heiniger-Vanessa Sepiol beat Katherine Capron-Jocelyn Kinsey, 6-2, 6-1. CGA 4, Elkhart Central 1: CGA's victory included two three-setters at both doubles and a set that included a tiebreaker at No. 1 singles. No. 3 singles player Brady Banks started CGA off with a 6-1, 6-1 victory, but minutes later, Elkhart Central's Mallory Welch knotted the score at 1-1 with a 6-4, 6-0 victory. Center stage in the match was the battle between No. 1 singles players Romina Clemente of CGA and Madeline Bond of Elkhart Central. Clemente, unbeaten at 22-0, outlasted Bond 7-6 (7-4) in the first set, and then wrapped up the second point for the Eagles with a 6-3 victory in the second set."Wasn't that great tennis?" asked CGA coach Alan Loehr. "Two kids came to play today and brought their A games and just were not going to back down from each other. A bounce here or a bounce there and then it goes the other way in a match like that. Romina only knows how to play in fourth gear. She can never pull it back." CGA's No. 2 doubles team of Katherine Capron and Jocelyn Kinsey knocked off Elkhart Central's Audrey Putnam and Sarah Schubert, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, for the deciding point. Claire Strebinger and Alex Medard delivered CGA's fourth point, rallying for a 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-4 victory at No. 1 doubles. "Culver, I would not say we are well known for doubles," Loehr said, "and so to get both of these (doubles) points is a real booster." Elkhart Central coach Dave Whittaker said that the match could have gone either way. "It was close, every match," Whittaker said. "That's all you can ask, for your kids to play their very, very best and put it all on the line, and we did today. We were so very, very close. A point here or a point there would have changed things around. But you have to give credit to Culver. They played very well. They stepped it up. We stepped it up, too, but they just played a little bit better. Their unforced errors were fewer than ours. It was a great match to watch, to coach in, and to be a part of."Whittaker said that the Blue Blazers will miss their No. 1 and No. 2 singles players, Bond and Mallory Welch. "We're going to miss Madeline (Bond) and Mallory (Welch)," said Whittaker. "Those two were cogs of this team for four years. They kind of re-established Elkhart Central as a good tennis program. We owe them a debt of gratitude for what they have done. They are going to be missed. Next spring, when we look down on courts one and two, it's not going to be those two, it's going to be kind of bittersweet. They've been leaders of this team." CGA 4, ELKHART CENTRAL 1 Singles: No. 1 Romina Clemente (CGA) beat Madeline Bond, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.; No. 2 Mallory Welch (EC) beat Jessica Kutch, 6-4, 6-0; No. 3 Brady Banks (CGA) beat Merrill Welch, 6-1, 6-1.Doubles: No. 1 Claire Strebinger-Alex Medard (CGA) beat Christa Osterloo-Sara Warning, 6-7 (7-4), 6-3, 6-4; Katherine Capron-Jocelyn Kinsey (CGA) beat Audrey Putnam-Sarah Schubert, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2. Munster 5, Michigan City 0: Munster swept through the singles with Maureen Modesto, Mary Hill and Christina Lee outscoring their opponents a combined 18-3, but ran into trouble from the Wolves at doubles. Lindsey Applegate and Nicole White of Michigan City lost 6-4, 6-3 at No. 2 doubles. That left a classic battle between the Wolves' Jennifer Sloane and Jayme McCormick and Munster's Katelyn Laszlo and Samantha Tantillo. Michigan City's No. 1 doubles duo owned a 5-2 lead in the third set, and had four match-point opportunities, but lost a heartbreaker, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (9-7)."Munster is a great team," Michigan City coach Norm Bruemmer said. "You can't give them many second chances. It was a battle down to the wire. They played better at the crucial times than we did." Michigan City freshman Katharine Sanderson lost a tough match to Modesto, 6-1, 6-1, but served notice that she will be a force in the future. Sanderson is 20-2. "We'll be able to build our team around her for the next three years to come," Bruemmer said. "We're disappointed but we're certainly not discouraged by the outcome here today. If you would have told me at the start of the season, you're going to be undefeated, and your first loss will be to the No. 2 team in the state in the semistate, I would have said, that would be a successful season." MUNSTER 5, MICHIGAN CITY 0 Singles: No. 1 Maureen Modesto beat Katharine Sanderson, 6-1, 6-1; No. 2 Mary Hill beat Stephanie Brown, 6-0, 6-1; No. 3 Christina Lee beat Amy Kaynor, 6-0, 6-0.Doubles: No. 1 Katelyn Laszlo-Samantha Tantillo beat Jennifer Sloane-Jayme McCormick, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (9-7); Rachael Heiniger-Vanessa Sepiol beat Lindsey Applegate-Nicole White, 6-4, 6-3.