Prairie Ridge edges Jacobs for FVC title
Jon Betts’ disappointment was evident.
Only 1 point separated his Jacobs Golden Eagles from winning the Fox Valley Conference girls tennis championship Saturday in Crystal Lake.
Prairie Ridge grabbed the championship with 97 points while Jacobs was a point back with 96 points and Crystal Lake South placed third with a score of 95.
“It was a tough day,” said Betts. “PR, South and us are very equal. Any of us could have won this championship. We had some tough losses, but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort. The girls really fought and did a great job. I am very proud of them.”
The tournament was delayed 3 hours because of rain.
Jacobs’ No. 4 doubles team of Sara Elliott-Lauren Bayer placed first while the second (Emma Nickoley-Dena Kontos) and third doubles (Hannah Jackowski-Chloe Moders) were second.
No. 2 singles player Rachel Buttolph was third while top singles player Ashley Kosy and No. 3 singles player Emily Halvorson placed fourth for the Golden Eagles.
PR claimed first place in all 3 singles competitions with Callie Schmitt, Natalia Favia and Annie Timm winning.
Schmitt, the second seed at No. 1 singles, upset top-seeded Julia Thome of Crystal Lake South 6-3, 6-4. Thome defeated Schmitt twice during the regular season.
“It was a great win,” said Schmitt. “I played loose with nothing to lose.”
In doubles action for the FVC champions, Anna Kuchenberg-Mikaela McNally at No. 1 doubles took second while Nikki Rice-Leenah Alas placed third at No. 4 doubles.
“I told the kids at breakfast we could win this championship,” said PR coach Jim Benson. “We told them every single point would be important and we did a great job. Everybody contributed to this championship.”
South, the third place team had 3 second-place finishes in singles action. Thome, Jacqueline Boorom (No. 2) and Hannah Rakofsky (No. 3) were runners-up.
The Gators’ No. 3 doubles team of Kylee Fetzner-Danielle Baietto took top honors. The No. 4 doubles duo of Ella Mazurek-Ekta Patel was second while the top doubles duo of Kelsey Laktasch-Rachel Rasmussen was third.
Following PR, Jacobs and Crystal Lake South in the meet were Crystal Lake Central (80), Cary-Grove (71), Grayslake Central (67), Huntley (62), Johnsburg (62), Woodstock (53), McHenry (50), Grayslake North (50),
Woodstock North (47), Hampshire (44) and Dundee-Crown (27).
Cary-Grove’s best finish came from the No. 2 doubles team of Ali Startecky and Alysha Langner, who were third.
Huntley’s No. 1 (Tamara Funke- Janson Rosales), No. 3 (Katie Gallegos- Alicia Pietramale) and No. 4 doubles team of Nicolette Davila-Haley McCartney were all fourth.