Scouting DuPage County girls tennis
Top teams: Hinsdale Central, Naperville Central, Neuqua Valley, Timothy Christian, Glenbard West, Benet.
Top players: Benet: Allison Bartley, sr.; Katie Telford, jr.; Coco Tzakis, sr.; Downers Grove North: Theresa McMahon, jr.; Giselle Downs, sr.; Adeline Lang, jr.; Downers Grove South: Janine Urgello, sr.; Glenbard East: Kolie Allen, so.; Glenbard South: Shelby Fritz, jr.; Nicole Campbell, so; Glenbard West: Caroline Maltby, sr.: Molly Hughes, sr.; Hinsdale Central: Isabella Lorenzini, jr.; Erika Oku, jr.; Danielle Burich, jr.; Sophia Haleas, sr.; Sandra Keta, sr.; Stephanie Dolehide, so.; Hinsdale South: Natalie Axelrod, so, Sarah Puz, sr.; Aimee Puz, fr.; Casey Droske, sr. IC Catholic: Kelley Hodyl, jr.; Teresa Gaudio, sr.; Autumn Gage, jr.; Lake Park: Gina Odisho, so.; Metea Valley: Michelle He, jr.; Abbey Woods, fr.; Naperville Central: Tiffany Chen, sr.; Hanna Swarm, sr.; Megan Furukawa, sr.; Naperville North: Lena Zhu, sr.; Nadia Hussain, sr.; Neuqua Valley: Jessica Chen jr.; Megan Dart, sr.; Adriana Mata, jr.; Timothy Christian: McKenna Byrne, sr.; Abygale Ahn, fr.; Danielle Beard, jr.; Waubonsie Valley: Abby Glavin, jr.; Serena Zhu, jr; Hannah Owens, fr.; Wheaton Academy: Sally Litfin, jr.; Maisie Howland, sr.; Lily Bracy, jr.; Wheaton North: Madeline Fidel, fr.; Emme Lindquist, jr.; Wheaton Warrenville South: Katya Shcherbyna, sr.; Samantha Choi, fr.; Willowbrook: Bridget Garner, sr.; Sam Wozniak, sr. York: Maja Shaw, jr.; Sarah Paist, sr.; Alex Hennessy, jr.; Abby Brigman, sr.
Scouting report: The DuPage Valley Conference title, which, in recent years has come down to a battle between rivals Naperville North and Naperville Central with Wheaton Warrenville South challenging, will be a lot different this year. Welcome the three valleys from School District 204, led by Neuqua Valley, which has won its Upstate Eight Conference or UEC Valley Division title for the past 14 years and should make the DVC race more interesting.
"With the addition of Neuqua, Waubonsie and Metea, our conference has gotten a lot stronger," said Wheaton Warrenville South coach Patti Clousing. "Every DVC match will be important this year."
Further complicating matters is the fact that both reigning champion Naperville North and perennial UEC power Neuqua suffered heavy graduation losses and go into the season with many questions still to be answered. The Huskies return only four starters and will carry six freshmen on varsity. The returning players will be shouldering greater responsibility as they move up to higher positions in the lineup.
"The conference will be more balanced," said Naperville North coach Heather Henricksen. "I hope we can finish in the top four."
Neuqua Valley, which finished 12th at state last year, is also going through something of a rebuilding process with seven starters having moved on. Returning state qualifiers Chen and Dart and the addition of exchange student Mata will help speed up the rebuilding process and probably put the Wildcats into contention for the DVC title. "We plan to be in the mix," said Neuqua coach Trudy Bennorth. "We have a lot of work to do, and our success will depend on how fast we can learn."
With Chen coming back for her senior year, Naperville Central has to be considered the DVC front-runner going into the season. The Redhawks were sixth at state as Chen finished third after winning the top prize the previous year. She's definitely in the mix for the singles championship this year. The Redhawks have a solid lineup with eight returning starters, including standouts Swarm and Furukawa. Add the graduates of an undefeated JV team and some promising freshmen and you can see why coach Don Bonet is optimistic about the Redhawks chances in the new DVC.
"We have a lot of good leadership," Bonet said, "and Tiffany is looking forward to a big senior year."
Wheaton Warrenville South has a strong singles 1-2 in freshman Choi and the returning Shcherbyna, but the doubles lineup, which has some talent but is still unsettled, could hold the key to the Tigers' fortunes. Waubonsie Valley is young but a nucleus of Glavin, Zhu and freshman Owens should make the Warriors stronger this year and potentially dangerous next year. Lake Park, Wheaton North, Metea Valley and Glenbard North will be battling for a spot in the first division.
Benet's Bartley and Telford make up an outstanding doubles team and Tzakis is a former state qualifier who leads the singles lineup. But coach Michael Hand is cautiously optimistic that this team will excel. "We don't have the depth we've had," Hand said. "We have a lot of unproven people, a lot of unknowns. I'm hoping that we will be better than we expect at this point."
Defending state champion Hinsdale Central doesn't even have to reload this year with five of the six members of the championship team returning, including second place at state Lorenzini at singles and Oku and Dolehide at doubles. The Red Devils are once again favored to go all the way. Hinsdale Central's success relegates traditionally strong programs such as York and Glenbard West to fight it out for second place. York graduates much of its nucleus from last year, but the Dukes are eagerly looking forward to the emergence of a strong group that played supporting roles to last year's strong senior class.
The Hilltoppers are led by a strong No. 1 singles in Maltby and its usual mix of reliable veterans and newcomers. Downers Grove North is an up-and-coming squad that could break into that top group.
Hinsdale South and Downers Grove South will again to head-to-head for the top spot in the West Suburban Gold.
In other conferences Glenbard East will be vying for Upstate Eight supremacy with a team headed by Allen, who made it to the top 16 at singles as a freshman. Timothy Christian with a deep, veteran cast, is looking good in the Metro Suburban East where IC Catholic's Hodyl, a two-time state qualifier, continues her career as one of the best players in the area. Wheaton Academy and Glenbard South will battle it out in the Metro Suburban West.
Key dates: Sept. 5: Downers Grove South Team Tournament; Sept. 8, Wheaton Academy at Timothy Christian; Sept. 12: Hinsdale Central Invite; Waubonsie Varsity Challenge; Glenbard East Ram Invite; Sept. 22: Naperville North at Neuqua Valley; Timothy Christian at Glenbard South; Sept. 24: Naperville Central at Naperville North; Oct. 3: Wheaton Warrenville South Tiger Doubles Invite; Naperville North Invitational; Oct. 9-10: Conference Tournaments; Oct. 16-17: Sectionals; Oct. 22-24 State Tournament.