Three champs for tourney host Buffalo Grove

After posting 40 points in Saturday's Bison Invite in girls tennis, Maine South and host Buffalo Grove were tied for first place.

The deadlock was broken by Maine South winning 3-2 in head-to-head battles between the teams.

Thus Maine South grabbed top honors, while Buffalo Grove took second place, ahead of fourth-place finisher Hersey.

Despite the tiebreaker, the Bison were pleased with their showing.

"The girls feel good," said Buffalo Grove coach Kevin Schrammel. "We had a tough beginning to our season starting against Deerfield, Stevenson, Glenbrook North, Barrington and Palatine, but it will pay off. The girls are very positive after (Saturday). It was a good day all-around."

Buffalo Grove had four representatives in the finals, and three of them won. Bison champions included the no. 2 junior doubles duet of Denny Dimitrova/Danielle Allaire, no. 3 singles player Jessica Prus and the no. 3 doubles tandem of freshman Emma Boyd and junior Allison Schultz.

The road to victory for Dimitrova/Allaire included wins over teams from York, Libertyville and finally a 4-6, 7-6, 10-7 win in the finals against Warren.

"We thought we had nothing to lose," Dimitrova said. "If we didn't give our all, it would be over."

Dimitrova and Allaire started as JV teammates and have steadily risen into leadership roles. Allaire is the team's captain.

"We give it our all every time we're on the court," Allaire said. "But we lost our focus on a couple of games. We know how to bring each other up when the other is down, which is an advantage."

Prus won 6-4, 6-7, 10-5 against York's Eva Jacobsthal, defeated Maine South's Nicole Paglari 6-4, 6-3 and posted a 4-6, 6-0, 10-4 victory against Libertyville's Lauren Kosowski.

The Boyd/Schultz pairing topped teams from York, Warren and Libertyville.

Buffalo Grove's usual no. 1 singles player, freshman Kina Tamai, paired up with Dasha Ignatova and had a stellar run in no. 1 doubles. After winning their first two rounds, they faltered against Maine South's Kamila Czosnyka/Marti Wind in the finals. No shame there - Czosnyka/Wind earned a 5-8 finish in the 2014 state tournament.

Hersey received a strong performance from Ana Karapetiani, who earned a third-place finish at no. 1 singles. She defeated Buffalo Grove's Anna Sandler 6-2, 6-2 and then Cary-Grove's Bethany Marshy 6-4, 3-6, 12-10 in the third-place match.

"I feel pressure playing at no. 1 singles," Karapetiani said. "I'm trying to do everything to not disappoint the team. I'm trying to stay positive and move my feet. I didn't play as well as I wanted, but there's always the next tournament."

Karapetiani has diligently been training this season, taking the jump up to the no. 1 singles slot. Hersey coach Sharon Meintzer likes her progress, which included a fourth-place effort in Fremd's the prior week.

"This is the best play I've seen from the entire team all season," Meintzer said. "We're still getting to know each other early in the season. I understand their personality when they play now, and now the next step is to see how it fits their game. Next week is critical in getting the teams aligned."

Other Huskies' standouts were at no. 2 singles with sophomore Claire Magnuson, and at no. 3 singles with freshman Alexandra Widomska. Both delivered fourth-place finishes.

Buffalo Grove and Hersey meet for a head-to-head Mid-Suburban East match on Sept. 24.