PREP GIRLS TENNIS: Northridge tops Concord, runs sectional championship streak to three

DUNLAP — With strengths coming to the forefront, Northridge continued its special postseason girls tennis run Wednesday, May 20 at the Concord High School courts.

Last week, the Raiders edged Plymouth for the Northern Lakes Conference championship.

This week, Northridge (15-5) won the IHSAA Concord Sectional 62, defeating Jimtown 4-1 Tuesday and Concord 4-1 Wednesday. The Minutemen topped Elkhart 4-1 in the semifinals.

For the Raiders, it’s the 15th sectional title in program history and the third straight. Next up is the semifinals of the four-team NorthWood Regional on Tuesday, May 26.

“We just try to focus on what we do well, hide our weaknesses and capitalize on our strengths,” Northridge third-year coach Judy Pollock said. “I talk about basic things with the girls like moving your feet, staying low and watching the ball because it takes the nerves away if you focus on little things like that.

“I said, ‘Go out there and play your game.’ We didn’t have a specific strategy. We said, ‘Play good, smart singles and doubles point.’”

Pollock has witnessed improvement all around.

“We’ve been getting better every week and it’s the same with Concord. So — from week to week — we’re seeing a different team. (Our players) have gotten a lot better in these last couple of weeks.”

The coach saw her team avoid a letdown after her team went 12-3 in its matches over three days at Mishawaka to raise the NLC trophy.

“I was afraid we might have a little lull after last week,” Pollock said. “That was a very stressful week for all of us.

“The girls came out and still played. I didn’t feel we played our best tennis (against Jimtown), but tonight we played some of our best tennis.”

The Raiders’ first three team points Wednesday came at No. 2 singles (senior Ana Zmuda), No. 1 singles (senior Elaina Duthie) and No. 3 singles (junior Jade Snyder). All won in two sets.

That was followed by a two-set Northridge victory at No. 2 doubles (sophomores Jovi Schmidt and Brooklyn Vasil).

“We’ve put in a lot of work since the NLC’s and used our mistakes and good playing from there,” Schmidt said. “We’ve improved on mixing up our range of shots. Our confidence has definitely grown. We got a slow start to the beginning of the season and that was a weakness for us.”

Said Vasil, who was Schmidt’s doubles partner on the junior varsity in 2025, “We’ve put in a lot of work in the offseason. We’re working on our communication and focusing on strengthening our weaknesses first, then getting stronger at the other things.”

Concord’s No. 1 doubles tandem of senior Lilly Newburn and junior Bri Koontz outlasted Northridge seniors Stella Judd and Lidea Shell, taking a tiebreaker in the third set and earned a berth in the No. 1 singles/No. 1 doubles individual tournament bracket at NorthWood.

Newburn and Koontz topped Judd and Shell on May 5 as Northridge topped Concord 4-1 during the NLC round robin.

“Our girls just seem to like to play three sets when they’ve playing their best,” said first-year Minutemen coach Evan Atkinson, whose team finished at 5-12. “I feel like they could beat anybody.

“We talked about hills and valleys. We want to have more hills than valleys.”

The coach talked about the strides all his players have made particularly with consistency and overall game knowledge in 2026.

“They’re thinking about where they should be on the court and that’s a huge priority for me. The more good reps you get in anything, the better you get at the sport.

“Our goal was always to improve throughout the season. We’ve certainly done that. I feel we’ve played a lot of good tennis. Northridge is just a really strong team this year.”

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PREP GIRLS TENNIS

Concord Sectional 62 Championship

Northridge 4, Concord 1

No. 1 singles: Elaina Duthie (Nr) def. Ellie Krause (C) 6-0, 6-2

No. 2 singles: Ana Zmuda (Nr) def. Sloan Fisher (C) 6-0, 6-2

No. 3 singles: Jade Snyder (Nr) def. Raegan Hostetler (C) 6-2, 6-0

No. 1 doubles: Lilly Newbern/Bri Koontz (C) def. Stella Judd/Lidea Shell (Nr) 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7-2)

No. 2 doubles: Jovi Schmidt/Brooklyn Vasil (Nr) def. Brynlee Borders/Angie Ruiz-Urbina (C) 6-1, 6-4

Order of finish: 2S, 1S, 3S, 2D, 1D

Records: Northridge 15-5, Concord 5-12.