Ruiz, Grayslake Central having fun winning

Trust your game and have some fun out there.

That's the formula Grayslake Central tennis player Raquel Ruiz has followed so far this fall.

Seems to be working pretty well, as the senior has only lost a couple of matches to this point.

"I try and not get caught up in winning and losing. My goal is to have fun," said Ruiz, who just missed qualifying for state a year ago. "I'm trying to get better at changing up the pace of the ball, so I can confuse my opponents."

It sure worked Thursday afternoon when she defeated Jaclyn Williams 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles and help the Rams post a 7-0 victory over Fox Valley Fox and neighborhood rival Grayslake North.

"It's always nice to play them (Grayslake North) because we all know each other. But so far the season has been going pretty well."

Senior Nikki Tatsuguchi and sophomore Lia Boucek both played singles last year but have teamed up since and develop into a formidable tandem that is also producing some pretty good results for the Rams.

"Doubles is a lot more fun. We communicate out there and know where each other is on the court," said Boucek.

Earlier this season, the duo picked up some first-place hardware in winning the Ram-Knight Invitational. This season, they have only lost one match and on Thursday defeated Grayslake North seniors Abby Rice and Emma Krostal 6-1, 6-3.

"Our volley's down the middle were going really well today," added Tatsuguchi. "But we have to work on our returns and ground strokes if we want to have a chance at state."

The Rams also received victories from freshman Fran Tolentino, who knocked off Grayslake North junior Gabrielle Charbonneau at No. 2 singles, 6-4, 6-1. Grayslake Central sophomore Avra Reddy completed the singles sweep after defeating the Knights Camryn Arroyo 6-1, 6-1.

"We are where we usually are and our goals are to get No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles to state," said Rams coach Chuck Lawson. "As a team, we hope to finish in the top four in the Fox Valley meet in a couple of weeks."

Besides Boucek and Tatsuguchi, the Rams No. 2 team of juniors Kathrene Tolentino and Katie Murphy posted a 6-1, 7-5 straight set victory over Grayslake North seniors Paige Proesel and Sivani Gullapalli. Senior Kelsey Littner and junior Mary Schimanski also cruised past Knights senior Amber Heth and junior Emma Indlecoffer 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4 doubles.

With the sun quickly setting, the longest and most entertaining match was at No. 3 doubles when Rams senior Friederike Conradt and junior Danielle Kaply outlasted the Grayslake North duo of senior Charlotte Muehleman and sophomore Taylor Spiewak 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.

"We've had some really unfortunate luck with injuries this season," said Grayslake North coach Jill Tomasello. "But we're chuggin' along and still having fun. It's a great experience for next year."

Muehlman and Spiewak were originally the Knights top two singles players but were paired up in doubles in an effort to help combat the injury bug Tomasello made inference to.

"I don't think I've had three girls out with injuries (in tennis) in the 11 years we've had varsity sports, let alone three in a season."

Junior Catie Dole (wrist) usually plays No. 2 singles and is cleared to start playing again next week, while the news isn't so great for junior doubles players Anne Scoltock (ankle) and Anne Watters (foot), who are sidelined for the rest of the season.

Both squads will see each other again on Saturday when they compete in the Lakes Invitational beginning at 8:30 a.m.