MSL streak hits four for Fremd
A fourth consecutive Mid-Suburban League badminton title was far from a foregone conclusion for Fremd.
The Vikings did have players in all 10 singles championship matches Saturday at Elk Grove. But seven of them were against a Buffalo Grove team chasing its first MSL crown.
But Fremd players and coaches ended up posing for post-tournament pictures with four fingers in the air and the big prize once again after winning seven singles titles and four in head-to-head matchups with East champ BG.
The defending state champion Vikings edged BG 68-63 and they also finished 1-2 in the overall MSL standings, where the division finish counts for half of the crown.
"We had a lot of confidence in our seniors pulling through for us in singles," said Fremd coach Bob Hanson.
"It hasn't sunk in yet," said Fremd senior Katie Morton, who won the No. 9 singles title and teamed with No. 10 champion Shannon Fitzgerald for a No. 5 doubles crown Friday night. "We're so happy and so excited and we all did a great job this weekend.
"We knew this was the most important day for us. We all knew we could do it and we had to really dig in and go all out today."
The battle for the first singles title lived up to its hype as unseeded BG senior Heather Nisbet earned her fourth MSL singles crown with an intense 14-21, 21-17, 22-20 win over Fremd senior Erica Lee.
"That was everything I've worked for," Nisbet said after rallying from a 19-18 deficit in the last set. "I knew I was going into my last singles match ever and I didn't want to go out on a loss."
Nisbet had lost once this year to Lee, who was third in state last year, and avenged 3 losses in her 21-17, 21-18 semifinal win over Conant's Selina Imamura.
"I knew being unseeded it would be a rough day today and I had to give it my all," Nisbet said. "This match was unbelievable. Erica is such a great player and such a nice person and I wish her all the best at state.
"It's been a rivalry the last couple of years but it was fun to play her again."
Lee had fought back from an 18-15 deficit in the final set to take a brief lead and hit a phenomenal shot to tie it at 20-20.
"It was a great game, one of the hardest games I've played yet," Lee said. "That was a state-level game, the kind you see at state."
Fremd sophomore Annie Huang beat Palatine's Maggie Van Grondelle 21-17, 21-18 at No. 2. Senior Alice Liu came back to beat BG's Michelle Byjos 14-21, 21-19, 21-18 at No. 3.
"Alice is a fighter and she has a lot of character," Hanson said. "She's a great player and she wanted to come through for us.
"This meant a lot to our seniors. They really set their goals and wanted it."
Fremd's other title wins over BG were Jackie Tiangco beating Deanna Guyton at No. 4 and Carolyn Buesing beating Kelsey Kob at No. 7.
BG's other champions were Ulana Kuryluk beating Fremd's Carlita Shen 19-21, 21-14, 21-19 at No. 5 and Nell Boyd topping Fremd's Claire Lee 21-11, 21-12 at No. 6.
"We did awesome and we were so close to beating Fremd," said Boyd, a tennis standout in her first year of badminton. "We all went out and did our best and everyone played well and everyone had a great season."
Hersey took third as Kristin Holz and Adriana Stavreva took second at No. 9 and 10 singles respectively. Catherine Park (No. 3), Tamara Cisoswka (No. 4) and Kasia Dubiel (No. 5) finished third and Rossy Iovtcheva lost the third-place match at No. 2 to Conant's Ayaka Yoshinari.
Imamura beat Katie Van Grondelle for third in the power-packed No. 1 bracket. That was exemplified by Rolling Meadows' Kim Martini topping Wheeling's Shannen Chechang in three sets for fifth.
"Obviously I would have liked to have done better but I know the MSL is very good, especially at first singles," Martini said after her matchup of returning state qualifiers. "On any given day the results could have been different because everyone is so equal. The four girls who placed ahead of me are so amazing."