The Northern Indiana Conference is going to be well represented come Friday, Oct. 17, at the IHSAA boys tennis state finals.
League powers South Bend Saint Joseph and Penn saw to that with a pair of impressive semistate showings on Saturday. No. 5 Saint Joe downed No. 4 and host Culver Academy 3-2, and No. 18 Penn beat No. 14 Carroll (Fort Wayne) 4-1 to win the Homestead Semistate.
The Huskies (18-3) and the Kingsmen (21-4) will now travel to Indianapolis to meet each other Friday in a quarterfinal match at 10 a.m. at North Central High School. The winner advances to the semifinals Saturday at 10 a.m., with the state title match at 2 p.m.
St. Joe and Penn, who both competed in the state finals in 2024, met in an NIC matchup in South Bend back on Aug. 26, with the Huskies winning 4-1.
Huskies get payback
The Huskies picked the perfect time to flip the script on a strong Culver Academy squad.
The Eagles had downed St. Joe 3-2 at Culver back on Sept. 13. The Huskies had changed their lineup since that loss, and freshman Jaxson Ashfeld got the clinching point with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win Saturday at No. 3 singles. Ashfeld was playing at No. 1 doubles in the first meeting with Culver with junior Jack Mattison at No. 3 singles.