Girls tennis: State tournament scouting, Northwest
As many as 376 hopefuls from all around Illinois have gathered for the most important weekend of high school girls tennis, as tournament host Buffalo Grove and the 11other Mid-Suburban League schools welcome the field to the area.
The tournament begins at 8 a.m. Thursday and runs through Saturday. The semifinals are schedule to begin at 9 a.m. Saturday at Buffalo Grove, with the championship matches to follow.
Mid-Suburban League state qualifiers include Palatine freshman Asuka Kawai; Barrington's Michelle Linden and Fillies doubles teams Addie Hirsch/Anna Donoghue and Paige Proustis/Nidhi Jha; Leyden freshman Jessica Minkov; Elk Grove sophomore Jelena Vujanic; and Conant's Haley Anderson/Priya Gupta.
Barrington began its postseason by edging out Hersey for the MSL title to claim a 20th straight conference crown. The Fillies went on to finish second at the Stevenson sectional.
Linden is entering her third year as a state qualifier (once as a doubles team and twice as a singles player). She finished as runner-up in both the MSL no. 1 singles bracket and the Stevenson sectional. Linden is seeded 9-16.
Donoghue/Hirsch is making a second straight state appearance. The tandem finished in the top 24 last year at state and repeated as MSL champs two weeks ago before a fourth-place sectional finish.
This is Jha/Broustis' first state appearance. They were second at No. 2 doubles in the MSL tournament before defeating teammates Hirsch/Donoghue for third place in the Stevenson sectional.
Linden's first match is against Galesburg freshman Emily King at Barrington. Hirsch/Donoghue will face off against Lyons' Sophie Allison/Joie Reisch at Rolling Meadows, while at Wheeling, Broustis/Jha plays Lockport's Tomi Jo Mansell/Hana Khatib.
Kawai had a breakout season in her first year of high school tennis. Besides registering an undefeated regular season, Kawai (26-0) earned first-place honors in MSL No. 1 singles and the Stevenson sectional. Kawai's stellar season enabled her to land a 5-8 seed.
"My goal for her was to make state, and she made that goal with flying colors," said Palatine coach Dino Trinh. "She exceeded my expectations by winning the sectional championship."
• After posting a second-place finish in the Lake Park sectional in 2013, Vujanic netted a sectional title at Schaumburg this season. Vujanic (28-5) was undefeated in the MSL East and recorded a third-place finish in the MSL Tournament.
Vujanic opens her weekend up against Oswego East junior Jaiere Harlow at her home court.
"I'm hoping Jelena finishes in the top 32 this year," said Elk Grove coach Kristen Fisher. "If she's playing her best tennis, I think she will."
Fisher is encouraging Vujanic to stay positive between points, with an emphasis on repeating the mantra of a family friend of the Vujanics, who just happened to have won a state title several years ago. The saying is, "I love tennis. I love to compete. I am a fierce competitor."
• Leyden enjoyed a second-place sectional finish from freshman singles player Jessica Minkov. In her first season with the Eagles, Minkov went 23-5, with two of those losses against Trinity Christian state qualifier McKenna Byrne. However, Minkov was able to notch a victory over Byrne in their third match of the season at the York sectional.
Minkov also registered a title in the Western Suburban Gold meet at No. 1 singles. She'll start her tournament at Elk Grove against Charleston opponent Maegan Flight.
"We feel (Minkov) got a nice draw," said Leyden coach Bob Smith. "She takes on a 17-32 (seed) in the second round, which is better than seeing a 1-4 (seed). This is the biggest number of freshmen I think I've seen in the history of the state tournament that are top seeded.
"Our goal was to get (Minkov) into state as a freshman. We knew she had some pretty tough girls in her sectional, including herself. Her finishing second was a major goal for this weekend. At this point, she has nothing to lose and everything to gain. We want her to play hard and just have fun."
Two of the three years Dave Koleno has coached Conant, the Cougars have sent players to state. Anderson/Gupta had a tough run in the MSL tournament finishing in sixth place overall, however the two recovered with a runner-up performance at the Schaumburg sectional.
Gupta/Anderson will play Notre Dame's Olivia Tracy/Abby Moore at Rolling Meadows.