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Girls tennis: Kawai, Linden continue in backdraw

Palatine freshman Asuka Kawai and Barrington junior Michelle Linden are the lone Mid-Suburban League players left in the girls tennis state meet following the second session in the three-day tournament.

The action continues Saturday, with championship semifinals starting at 9 a.m. at Buffalo Grove.

In singles, defending champ Tiffany Chen of Naperville Central faces Isabella Lorenzini of Hinsdale Central and Meg Kowalski of Lyons meets Brienne Minor of Carmel.

Doubles features Megan Hickey/Stefana Vasic (Lyons) against Erica Oku/Stephanie Dolehide (Hinsdale Central) and Rugile Valiunaite/Sandra Keta (Hinsdale Central) against Vinaya Rao/Katherine Harvey (Stevenson).

Palatine's Kawai finished Friday as a top eight player in the state, confirming her seeded position. In her first match of the day, she defeated Glenbard East's Kolie Allen 6-2, 6-1.

In the quarterfinals, Kawai faced the tall task of matching up with Carmel senior Brienne Minor, seeded second.

In their first set, Minor won the first three games. Kawai then seemed to have adjusted to the power shots coming from Minor, and Kawai strung together a three-game winning streak of her own to tie the set.

Minor, though, won nine of the next 10 games to send Kawai to the backdraw.

It was not only the first loss of the season for Kawai, it was also the first set she'd dropped all season.

"I don't think anything went wrong," said Palatine coach Dino Trinh. "She was just overpowered. When the ball was (returned), it came so fast that it forces errors. (Minor) has so much power."

"Asuka was moving well on the court. I was proud of how she played. At this level, you have to expect a top opponent to be very confident and that she will bring it."

In the fourth round of play, Linden was bettered by last year's state runner-up, Isabella Lorenzini of Hinsdale Central, 6-2, 6-3. Even though Linden lost, she was not discouraged as she went on to win twice more in the back draw.

Her parents and teammates huddled around the Wheeling courts for hours as Linden defeated Michelle Bacalla of Niles North 6-4, 6-4 and Annemarie Emme of Glenbrook South 6-2, 6-3.

"I need to have more patience," Linden said. "Since I was playing Isabella, I felt I should do something a little better, but I made some changes and hit some better balls in the back draw."

Barrington's Addie Hirsch/Anna Donoghue and Elk Grove sophomore Jelena Vujanic both earned one win Friday. Hirsch/Donoghue notched a win over Rockford Guilford's Carly Kasicki/Shannon Hallstein 6-4, 6-4 at Rolling Meadows, while Vujanic topped Kayleigh Thurwalker from Belleville West 6-4, 6-4 at Palatine.

Hirsch/Donoghue and Vujanic both lost to their respective foes in the fifth round of consolation play. Barrington's Paige Broustis/Nidhi Jha lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in the fourth round of the backdraw to Normal Community's Abby Kosharek/Katie Toohill.

The Fillies will say goodbye to one-half of their No. 1 doubles team as Hirsch, a two-time state qualifier, will graduate in 2015.

Hirsch doesn't know if she will play college tennis, but she will help coach Beta Tennis at Countryside School for kids ages 6-14 this summer. The Barrington senior has yet to choose a school but wants to major in business administration and marketing while minoring in psychology.

Hirsch and Donoghue ended their season in the top 24 of doubles for a second consecutive year.

"I couldn't ask for more in the past two years," Hirsch said. "I'm not sad that we lost, I'm just sad it was my last match of high school tennis. I'm thankful to (Barrington coach Tracy Waters-Miller) , who was my role model in high school. I am excited for Barrington tennis because our team is so talented.

"I plan to come back and visit during the state tournament next year. I'm going to miss the team and coach Waters."

After two days of play, Hinsdale Central widened its point total to 44. Lyons and Stevenson share second place with 33 points while New Trier is fourth with 22. Barrington is tied for eighth with Glenbrook South with 16 points.

Linden and Kawai will return for the final day of the state tournament at Rolling Meadows to keep battling toward a fifth-place finish.

Kawai plays Hinsdale Central's Sophia Haleas, while Linden will have a rematch against Stevenson's Kendall Kirsch. Linden bested the 2013 doubles state champion 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the Stevenson sectional semifinals a week ago.

"I have confidence," Linden said. "It will be tough because (Kirsch) is a competitor, but at least I know it's possible that I could (win)."

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