Fremd's Buesing fights for first state berth

Carolyn Buesing is a fighter.

That's why Fremd coach Bob Hanson picked Buesing for his sectional lineup even though the senior had played No. 7 singles all season.

So Buesing did what Hanson expected after she lost her first match in Thursday's Fremd sectional in Palatine. Buesing fought back to finish third and qualify for next week's state tournament at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

"When you go in (to the season) playing No. 7 singles, it's not really what you're expecting," Buesing said after beating Wheeling junior Hannah Park 22-20, 21-18 in the third-place match. "It's more of a dream than something that would actually happen."

But Buesing will be part of the Vikings' dream of a repeat team title and third in four years. They won their ninth straight sectional title, which they dedicated to assistant coach Rico Matarazzo, who is leaving to become an administrator at Palatine.

"Every single girl played so well and I'm so proud of them," said Fremd senior Erica Lee, who beat Wheeling's Shannen Chechang 21-17, 21-18 for the singles title.

Palatine finished second as Katie and Maggie Van Grondelle beat Fremd's Alice Liu and Annie Huang 21-13, 21-13 for the doubles title. Fremd seniors Jackie Tiangco and Claire Lee beat Palatine seniors Lora Weiss and Beth Gleason for third.

Buesing lost her first match in three sets to Palatine's Heather Kluk. But Buesing won her next two matches and beat Kluk 21-12, 21-13 to reach the third-place match and earn a state berth.

"I know she's a fighter and if she got in the back draw she'd be able to fight her way through," Hanson said.

"I think I just knew I could play better," Buesing said. "The rest of the girls were counting on getting all six (players to state). I really wanted to do that and fight for it."

Erica Lee, who took third in the state in singles last year, had no trouble in her first two matches but got a nice challenge from Chechang in the final.

"I saw some good competition, especially the last game," Lee said. "It was a good foreshadowing for what's to come at state."

Chechang, who qualified last year and finished sixth in the Mid-Suburban League's loaded No. 1 singles field, hopes this will help her drive to be Wheeling's third straight state medalist.

"Her shots are great and she has really good placement," Chechang said of Lee.

The Van Grondelle sisters are looking to better their sixth-place finish of last year in their second and final trip as a doubles team. They beat Fremd's duo of returning qualifiers in Liu and Huang.

"I had a little nerves to begin with, but once we got them out we played the way we can play," said Maggie, a sophomore. "We stuck with the game plan well and figured out what we needed to do."

Katie said that included a slight adjustment from their second-place finish at No. 1 doubles in the MSL tourney.

"We played more enthusiastic," the senior said. "At times last weekend we were a little flat but today we came out with a lot of enthusiasm and we were more aggressive."

Tiangco and Lee are also returning to state. So is Weiss, with a new partner in Gleason.

At Conant: The host Cougars won their first sectional title as seniors Selina Imamura beat Ayaka Yoshinari for the singles title and seniors Tiffany Tatsumi and Stephanie Laurencell took second in doubles.

Imamura beat Yoshinari 21-15, 21-12. Tatsumi and Laurencell won their first-round match in three sets on the way to the final, which they lost 21-17, 21-15.

At Deerfield: Rolling Meadows senior Kim Martini will make a return trip to state after beating Stevenson's Wan Wan Liu 21-14, 21-17 for the singles title.

At New Trier: Hersey seniors Rossy Iovtcheva and Kasia Dubiel qualified for state as they won their third-place doubles match 21-9, 21-19. At York: Hoffman Estates qualified both of its doubles teams for state as juniors Amruta Bhatt and Maiko Matsubara took second and sophomores Auni Bavishi and Meran Liu finished fourth.

Leyden senior Maggie Liskowicz qualified for the second straight year in singles as she beat sophomore teammate Adrianna Sanchez in the third-place match.

At Glenbard East: Schaumburg junior Sara Partington won her third-place match 17-21, 21-12, 21-14 and qualified for state.