Coker, WW South win marathon match

Wheaton Warrenville South's Tesa Coker and Wheaton North's Courtney Kayne played their No. 3 singles match Thursday like they were willing to go all night.

They almost did.

More than 31/2 hours after they started, Coker finally got match point to drop in a 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7) victory as darkness fell over WW South.

"You forget about time. Just keep hitting the ball," Coker said.

Coker's win gave the Tigers a 4-3 DuPage Valley Conference victory against their cross-town rivals.

"It was just really exciting," Tigers coach Patti Clousing said. "It's always fun to play your cross-town rival. And for it to come down tied 3 apiece, to have the deciding match go (so long). Each player had an opportunity to win. I know the Wheaton North player had a match point. Our player had three match points before she won on her fourth one. And that's what's really exciting."

"My arm's cramping up, my leg's cramping up," said Coker, a sophomore whose first DVC win will be hard to forget. "It was really tiring. It was getting hard to see the ball because it was getting dark outside."

The match went so long, Kayne's Wheaton North teammates had a couple of pizzas delivered courtside. Both were gone well before the match ended.

"That's as late as it can possibly go and not get called for darkness," Clousing said. "(Wheaton North coach Rick Rateike) and I kept looking at each other. He's like, 'I've totally lost my depth perception in the dark.' I thought if it had gotten to 9-9 and they had switched sides again, I think we would have had to call it."

Coker and Kayne made long rallies the norm, often sending the ball over the net 20 times or more during each point.

"Courtney is very consistent, and her strength is keeping a lot of balls in play," Rateike said of his senior, now 10-5 on the season.

"Usually people run me across the court like crazy," Coker said, "but this girl, she just kept hitting it straight back to me."

The Tigers (4-8, 2-2) swept the singles matches, with freshman Keisha Clousing leading the way at No. 1 with a quick 6-1, 6-0 win.

The Falcons (10-2, 2-1) won at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 doubles. Shilpa Joshi and Maggie Uhen's second-doubles victory raised their record to 18-0 on the season. They've become such a partnership since joining forces over the summer that they've started finishing each other's sentences.

"We work really well at communicating," Joshi said.

"We talk about every point afterward," Uhen said. "Like where to hit it...."

"Where we can get the most points," Joshi added. "Usually it's with her being aggressive at the net so I can cover the back."

It looked like their streak might come to an end Wednesday against Bartlett when they found themselves at 6-6 in the first set. They found the resolve to win the set, then won the second set a little more easily.

"It's nerve-wracking," the two seniors agreed together.