Geneva edges Kaneland for sectional crown

Kirby Einck has won her share of tennis matches throughout her 4-year career at Geneva - more than 120 and counting.

She has captured individual Upstate Eight Conference River Division titles, numerous tournament crowns and led the Vikings to conference and sectional team championships.

Heading into the weekend, however, she had never won an individual sectional title.

That changed Saturday afternoon as the steady senior defeated Kaneland senior Sammie Schrepferman 6-3, 6-0 in the singles championship at the St. Charles East sectional.

Einck, a 4-time state qualifier who will attend West Point in the fall, got stronger throughout the match as she won 8 consecutive games to close out her day.

"It was really nice to come here my last year and finally win it," said Einck, who placed second at the St. Charles East sectional last season.

Schrepferman, who won the first game and trailed just 4-3 midway through, pushed Einck to the limit in the opening set.

"At the beginning of the match, I could tell she had gotten a lot better," Einck said of Schrepferman. "I knew that it was going to be a tough match because she's a tough competitor.

"I just had to buckle down, get every single ball back and play aggressively because she was running me around."

Schrepferman, a 3-time state qualifier, admittedly was frustrated after the match.

"Everything I put back at her and anything I tried to do - it would just come back even harder or even better," said Schrepferman. "I tried my hardest but she came out even stronger in the second set."

"The score that Kirby beat Sammie by doesn't reflect what the match was like," said Geneva coach Maureen Weiler, whose team edged the Knights 21-20 to capture its second straight sectional team title. "As always, Kirby just digs deeper and deeper. She did a good job winning that match."

Sophomore Grace Krueger added a third-place singles finish for the Vikings with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Lake Park freshman Gina Odisho.

"Grace stayed with it because that girl (Odisho) came out blazing," said Weiler. "You never know what is going to happen because it's hard to play 2 singles all the way through and then all of a sudden you're up in 1 singles. It's a much tougher step."

Kaneland seniors Angelica "Jelly" Emmanouil and Madi Jurcenko cruised to their first doubles sectional title with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over St. Charles North's Lianne Anderson and Emma Spellman.

"It has been a long journey with ups and downs but we finally won it," said Emmanouil, who has teamed with Jurcenko since they were sophomores. "This is the best we've played together."

"The continuity helps," said Jurcenko, who will be making her fourth state doubles appearance. "I know what she can get and she knows what I can get. We're definitely happy with how we've played."

The Knights' tandem will bring a 31-0 record into next week's state tournament.

"We're hoping to get seeded but it's out of our control," added Jurcenko.

St. Charles North qualified both of its doubles teams, as juniors Morgan Rerko and Brittany Rohrsen placed fourth while their counterparts Anderson and Spellman survived a 3-set semifinal match to reach the finals.

After playing second doubles during the regular season, the unseeded Anderson and Spellman scored the upset of the tournament during Friday's 6-1, 7-6 (8) quarterfinal win over Batavia's second-seeded duo of Sydnee Unterberg and Julianne Robinson.

"We knew they could do it," said North Stars coach Eve Tubman. "They were real close with our first doubles team."

Wheaton Academy qualified its doubles pairing of junior Maisie Howland and sophomore Lily Bracy after outlasting Geneva seniors Emma Hazel and Shannon Foster 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.

"Being a sophomore and a junior, this is huge for us to be able to go to state," said Bracy. "We just kept reminding each other that this was it. We wanted it so badly."

"We didn't let ourselves get down too far," said Howland.

It was one of the rare disappointments suffered by the Vikings.

"That's my one sad note with the whole day," said Weiler. "I would love to be taking them (Hazel and Foster) to state. They played their hearts out and did everything they could."

Howland and Bracy also survived a 3-set match with Kaneland's Colleen Landers and Stephanie Karolewicz during Friday's second round and went on to place third.