Naperville Central doesn't bother to rebuild
The defending state girls tennis singles champion and a doubles team that featured a player who missed this entire season added up to a sectional championship team for Naperville Central.
Tiffany Chen breezed through the competition without losing a game, and the first-time partnership of Cass Goldner and Hannah Swarm, neither of whom was expected to play this season, won the Naperville North sectional singles and doubles championships, respectively, and led the Redhawks to their third straight sectional title.
"Going into the season I didn't think we had a chance," said Naperville Central coach Don Bonet. "This was supposed to be a rebuilding year. But we had Tiffany at the top of the lineup and everyone else worked really hard to improve their game."
Naperville Central scored 22 points to win a strong sectional that would see players from six schools grab at least one of the four singles or four doubles spots that meant qualification for next week's state tournament.
Glenbard West, which finished second with 20 points, qualified a pair of singles players, Caroline Maltby and Ali Bush, while the next four teams will each send a single representative to state.
Third-place Naperville North (18 points) will have doubles Abbie Boswell and Jessica Hu. Benet (fourth, 12 points) is sending doubles Allison Bartley and Katie Telford. St. Francis (fifth, 11 points) will be represented by Ava Kolman. Glenbard South (sixth, 10 points) will have doubles Jenna Brambora and Rachel Rettger returning to state.
Chen was practically flawless as she gets set to begin defense of her state title.
"I'm trying not to put a lot of pressure on myself," Chen said. "I'm looking forward to just going out and playing my best next week and having a good experience."
Swarm, who won the DuPage Valley Conference Tournament second-doubles crown with partner Sabrina Chow, was supposed to miss the entire season after injuring her knee last summer. But she made a remarkable recovery and resumed tennis after missing the first two weeks of the season.
"I started my season at fourth doubles," Swarm said. "And then I moved up several positions as the season went on."
The big surprise she received last week was news that she would be paired with Goldner, a great doubles player who had not played this season, for the sectional.
Goldner, who achieved her fourth qualification this weekend and finished seventh at state in doubles last year, had surgery on a torn labrum in June. She had pretty much written off her senior tennis season.
"Cass stayed in shape and started hitting a few weeks ago," Bonet said.
"And then last week her doctor cleared her for playing with some specific limitations. She was not able to use her overhead serve."
Out of respect for Goldner's record as a doubles player, she and Swarm were seeded 3-4 for the sectional.
"I was a little rusty," Goldner said. "The semifinal was a tough match (6-2, 4-6, 6-2 over Bartley and Telford), but Hannah was the perfect partner. She's consistent at the baseline and she gets to everything. And she adjusted well to me because she's been playing with different partners all season."
Swarm said their strategy was simple.
"I just tried to keep it in play at the baseline and let Cass take over at the net," she said. "And we kept our unforced errors down. That really worked. I got more confident as the tournament went on. It's amazing playing with such a great doubles player."
The two won three matches at sectionals and won by default over Boswell and Hu in the finals because Boswell, a soccer player who will attend Ball State on a scholarship, had to leave to play in a national club tournament.
"We knew going in that Abbie had a soccer commitment," said Naperville North coach Heather Henricksen. "She and Jessica are looking forward to playing at the state tennis meet. Congratulations to Cass and Hannah, who are fantastic players."