Girls tennis: Winning feels familiar for Grant's Schoenberg

As sophomore Gaby Schoenberg walked off a Palatine tennis court Thursday afternoon, Grant coach Shea Wintersteen approached his star with a smile and raised arm.

He had one word for her.

"Friday," he said with an overhand-smash high-five for Schoenberg.

While Schoenberg's second win in four matches on Day 1 of the state meet earned her a fifth match - an 8 a.m. court time today against Alton's Janelle Wilson at Palatine - Thursday was not just another day for her. That's because, before all was said and done, she looked across the net and saw a familiar face.

Schoenberg opened with a 6-0, 6-0 win but then dropped her second-round match. The Bulldog had to win her next match in order to extend her state experience, and she accomplished it. That secured her another match.

Her foe?

A friend.

Another Bulldog from the North Suburban Conference.

Schoenberg and freshman Sarah Hackman of Wauconda squared off in the third round of the consolation bracket.

"We go to the same tennis club (College Park in Bannockburn), so it was cool playing her," said Schoenberg, 15, adding she's known Hackman since she was 9.

Schoenberg, a 17-32 seed, defeated Hackman 6-2, 6-0. The two players hugged at the net afterward. Grant's Bulldog also won the regular-season meeting between the two players.

"We have good points and a close match every time," Hackman said. "You just have to forget that you're playing a friend and that it's just another ball coming back to you."

"We're really similar," said Schoenberg, who went 3-1 on Day 1 of state last year as well, before losing her only Friday match. "We're good at rallying, rallying and rallying until someone misses it. We're at the same level pretty much."

Schoenberg started the morning by blanking Lincoln-Way North's Meg Witt 6-0, 6-0. She then lost to Kaneland's Samantha Schrepferma 7-6 (4), 6-4, before bouncing back with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Sycamore's Kathryn Sullivan.

By besting Hackman, Schoenberg had conquered not only three opponents, but also a challenging wind on a brisk day. During her second match, she hit some shots that, due to the wind, went "flying off into the alley," she said.

"It's tough with the wind, and it's cold," Schoenberg said. "You just got to keep the ball in the court."

Hackman dropped her first match, a 6-2, 6-0 decision to Geneva's Kirby Einck, before winning back-to-back matches against Lincoln-Way East's Nina Heidkamp (6-0, 6-1) and Payton's Jessie Mitchell (6-4, 6-2). Coach Melissa Hoffmann said that in her 15 years at Wauconda Hackman is the first girl from the school to qualify for state and maybe the first ever.

"It was a cool experience," Hackman said after her 2-2 day ended her fabulous season. "It was a lot of fun."

Hackman finished second in the Highland Park sectional, losing to Carmel senior Brienne Minor, who's the No. 2 seed at state. Minor, a Michigan recruit, went 3-0 Thursday at Hersey, losing only 6 games in her first two matches, before outlasting Belleville West's Kayleigh Thurwalker 6-0, 7-5 in the third round.

"She is good at stepping in, and she gets to everything," Hackman said of Minor.

Way-good Stevenson gets to play lots more tennis today after a predictably strong first day. With 22 points, the trophy-seeking Patriots sit in second place behind Hinsdale Central (24). Warren is tied for fifth with Edwardsville (15 points each), behind third-place Lyons (21) and New Trier (18).

Stevenson boasts the Nos. 1 and 2 seeded doubles teams, and neither disappointed on Day 1. Freshman Zoe Taylor and senior Kaylin Dong (No. 1 seed) and junior Vinaya Rao and freshman Katherine Harvey (No. 2) both went 3-0. Taylor/Dong picked up 6-2, 6-0 wins in each of their first two matches, before topping Prairie Ridge's Natalie Favia/Mikaela McNally 7-5, 7-5. Rao/Harvey dropped just 1 game in their first two matches and then captured a 6-2, 6-2 win over Loyola's Abby Witkowski/Caroline Witkowski.

Stevenson's Wisconsin-bound Kendall Kirsch, a 5-8 seed, went 3-0 as well, losing only 6 games. Stevenson's Zoe Manion (9-16 seed) won her first two matches before losing 6-2, 6-4 to Geneva's Einck.

Warren singles players Alex Mella (9-16 seed) and Karyna Bihel (5-8 seed) also had a great first day, as each went 3-0. The Blue Devils' doubles teams of Mikayla Schultz/Megan Waterhouse and Roxanne Pantelyuk/Julia Papillon went 2-2 and 0-2, respectively.

Libertyville's doubles team of Danielle Blaser/Callie Klein won its first two, before suffering a third-round loss. Halle Roach of the Wildcats went 1-2, as did Antioch's Kelsey Neville, Grayslake Central's doubles team of Brenda Zador/Sarah Adornetto and Lakes' doubles duo of Morgan Visser/Ally Perdue.