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Glenbard West stellar in postseason prep at Meadows

For a 30th consecutive year, Rolling Meadows’ girls tennis program hosted the Mustang Invite on Saturday afternoon. The tournament is a test to all teams participating due to its template, which mirrors the sectional format.

Flights for the long-running invitational were at Rolling Meadows and Fremd.

From all indications, the postseason figures to be a long one for Glenbard West. The Hilltoppers took top honors, finishing with an astonishing 60 points on the day; a perfect score. Last year Glenbard West shared the title with Benet Academy.

Fremd followed in second place with 41 points, while Benet had 39 points for a third-place finish. Area teams Schaumburg, St. Viator, Fremd and Rolling Meadows all competed in the event.

Glenbard West got all four of its entrants into the championship matches. In the doubles final, seniors Drew Menzel/Grace Norgaard defeated seniors Elizabeth Ficarella/Maggie Hughes 6-2, 6-1.

In the singles bracket, Glenbard West teammates sophomore Caroline Maltby and senior Susan Siederhold tied for first place but opted out of playing each other in the final.

“Having all four teams in the final makes us more competitive,” Menzel said. “This brings us as a team more momentum, because we feel a lot more confident. We were in a slump as a team coming in, and it’s good we could turn things around with a win today.”

Fremd sported two medalists in the invitational Saturday: senior No. 1 singles player Amy Byrne, and the tandem of Allison Tomal/Maggie Hanna. Both finished fourth.

Byrne defeated Schaumburg sophomore Wasinee Siewsrichol 6-2, 6-2 and Benet sophomore Allison Bartley 6-3, 6-2. Byrne lost to Maltby 6-0, 6-0 and to Benet sophomore Coco Tsakis 6-2, 6-4.

“Today gave me a lot of confidence,” Byrne said. “Even though I only got fourth, I played some really good players. The last player I played (Tsakis), I’m glad she isn’t in the conference meet. Since we got second overall, it gives us all confidence going into conference and sectionals.”

Tomal/Hannah recorded a victory over the No. 2 Benet doubles team 7-5, 6-0 and a 6-1, 6-0 win against Schaumburg’s doubles team. They eventually fell to Ficarella/Hughes 6-2, 6-2 and completed their day with a loss to Lake Zurich’s doubles team 6-4, 6-3.

“I was happy on how we performed,” said Fremd coach Lauren Hall. “It’s great timing for conference next week. We’re peaking at the right time. This is a really tough tournament and I’m excited to see the girls do so well.”

Conference tournament play begins next Thursday for all area teams. Rolling Meadows will host the event this year.

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