It's safe to say that what transpired Friday in the Class B girls state tennis tournament wasn't what the Grand Island Central Catholic doubles teams had envisioned.
Entering the semifinals playing against Kearney Catholic teams the Crusaders had defeated in their previous meetings, opportunities to play for state titles seemed very realistic for GICC's No. 1 doubles team of Hannah Bolton and Jessica Wojcik and the No. 2 doubles team of Ashley Chalupa and Jessica Bender.
Instead, both Kearney Catholic squads played some of their best tennis of the season and the Crusaders' doubles teams wound up with a pair of fourth-place finishes after going 0-2 on the day at the Nebraska Tennis Center.
"Kearney Catholic just didn't miss much at all," GICC coach Matt Westfall said. "They played lights out -- best they had played all year at No. 1 doubles, according to their coach, so we just kind of ran into a buzz saw there.
"It just wasn't our day. That happens in athletics and we came up a little short."
At No. 1 doubles, the second-seeded Bolton and Wojcik (21-3) had defeated Kearney Catholic's third-seeded Nickola Messbarger and Molly Heeney each of the last two times they had met. However, the Stars' duo -- the defending Class B state champs in the event -- rolled to a 6-1, 6-3 victory and went on to repeat with a win in the title match.
Omaha Skutt's Christine Bolas and Julianne Kincaid then defeated Bolton and Wojcik 6-4, 7-5 in the third-place match.
At No. 2 doubles, GICC's second-seeded Chalupa and Bender (15-2) had a similar story as they had defeated Kearney Catholic's third-seeded Ellen Baldwin and Janna Montgomery 8-1 in a late-season meeting. However, the Stars were able to pull out a 6-4, 6-4 victory Friday and advanced to an eventual runner-up finish.
Chalupa and Bender lost 6-4, 6-3 in the third-place match to fourth-seeded Jennifer Engel and Kate Webb of Omaha Duchesne Academy.
"Both consolation matches could've gone either way, but we came up just a little short on the big points," Westfall said. "But the girls played really hard. They've improved so much since our first practice. From late February to now, they've made tremendous strides."
Central Catholic finished eighth in the Class B team race with 20 points. While Westfall said the team's goal was a top-five state finish, he credited the Crusaders for placing in the top 10 despite having to replace four starters from last year's squad.
Next year, GICC will lose Chalupa and No. 2 singles player Kiran Hamik, but Westfall said he thinks the experience the Crusaders gained could help them greatly in 2009.
"We lose Ashley and Kiran, but we've got everyone else back and we've got some strong freshmen," Westfall said. "With another year of experience, I think we have an opportunity to be even better next year."
Having three players returning next year with state meet medals should be a big confidence-builder, Westfall said.
"It was good for the girls to get to see all this at state," Westfall said. "They got to see what it's like to play in front of all these people and play with the pressure. Every point, one side or the other is cheering as loud as they can cheer and the girls don't usually see that throughout the season, especially on day two.
"Two of our four entries were able to get to day two and experience that, so that's a major accomplishment."
Class B State Tournament
