INDIANAPOLIS — The Columbus East and Columbus North girls tennis doubles teams competed in an epic showdown Saturday morning at Park Tudor in what could be described as the most important rivalry matchup of the year, considering a state finals berth was on the line.
Megna Chari and Kathryn Hodzen of East met Madelyn Sanders and Eva Chevalier of North in the state semifinals. The Olympians duo pulled out the 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-4 win to advance to the final.
After the final was moved inside to Indianapolis Racquet Club because of inclement weather, Chari and Hodzen fell Claire Koscielski and Meg Coleman of Indianapolis Cathedral 6-1, 6-1 to become the state runners-up.
“It’s really good,” Hodzen said of placing second. “All of our hard work paid off, and we can just feel that.”
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Getting past their crosstown rivals wasn’t easy for Chari and Hodzen. The Bull Dogs were leading for most of the first set and held a 5-4 lead before the East duo won the next two games to tie the set at 6-6. The Olympians won the tiebreaker 7-5 to take a one-set lead.
“We had a couple of game break points and just didn’t get it done,” North coach Kendal Hammel said of the first set. “That first set probably was the big swing for us overall because that one started putting us back on our heels a little bit. But at the same time, they turned around in the second set and were behind, and they pulled it back out, too.”
The tables turned in the second set with East leading most of the way. Chari and Hodzen held a 5-4 before Sanders and Chevalier won the next three games to force a third set.
The Olympians jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the third set, but the Bull Dogs won the next two games to close the gap and ended up trailing 5-4 for a second consecutive set. Chari and Hodzen held off the Bull Dogs this time by taking the final game to advance to the final.
“It was tough,” Chari said. “But we just never gave up. We told each other, ‘This is our game.’ We just kept pumping each other up, and that really helped in the end.”
Hodzen said playing the match was exhausting from start to finish, but it was also a stressful roller coaster for East coach Matt Malinsky, who was watching and coaching on the side.
“It was nail biting all the way through it,” Malinsky said. “I never want to live through it again, but I’m so happy to be through it on the winning side, But I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone when you’re in the moment.”
Sanders and Chevalier ended their season with a 23-2 record. The semifinal loss was the last match in a Bull Dogs uniform for Sanders who just graduated last weekend. Chevalier said she enjoyed her time playing with Sanders.
“It feels really great because I’ve never been to state,” Chevalier said. “Megna and Kathryn played amazing, and we did too, but it was just a tough day and tough match. I’m really happy that we made it this far … It was just an amazing season with Madelyn.”
Chari and Hodzen had a tough match in the final against Kosclelski and Coleman. Chari said she felt like she and Hodzen competed well against Cathedral and managed to win two games against a duo that was undefeated and has lost few games all postseason.
“They’re incredible players,” Chari said. “We just relaxed because we kind of knew the outcome of it.”
Chari and Hodzen, who played No. 1 and No. 2 singles for about half the season, finished with a 14-1 doubles record together.
