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Girls tennis: Perfect start for Libertyville's Blaser, Klein

Libertyville doubles partners Danielle Blaser and Callie Klein had a perfect start on Day 1 of the girls tennis state tournament on Thursday.

A Class 2A 5-8 seed, Blaser/Klein posted 6-0, 6-0 wins in each of their first two matches at Conant. Their third-round opponent will be Stevenson's Katherine Harvey/Paige Nierman at Buffalo Grove. Harvey/Nierman, a 9-16 seed, also started the day with back-to-back wins, losing only two games.

Stevenson's other doubles team, 5-8 seed Gina Kondos/Elizabeth Ferdman, lost only one game in winning their first two matches.

Stevenson's Dhwani Kumar was a straight-set winner in each of her first two matches as well, while Athena Kolli of the Patriots started with a win before suffering consecutive losses.

Through two rounds, Stevenson was in first place with 14 points, two more than runner-up Hinsdale Central.

Carmel's 5-8 seed Karina Falkstrom/Marie Kapelevich advanced to the third round with a pair of straight-set wins.

Another player who had a 2-0 day was Grant's 9-16 seed Gaby Schoenberg, who didn't lose a game in her opening match.

Warren freshman Sabrina Mella won her first match, then lost to 9-16 seed Emily Casati of Deerfield in straight sets before capturing another win to stay alive. Warren's doubles team of Kristina Danos/Lilyanne Honnold split their first two matches before losing to Lake Forest's Nika Belova/Julianna Roman.

Mundelein's Isabel Alviar rebounded from a second-round defeat to outlast Lake Forest's Emily Gorczynski 6-4, 3-6, 10-4.

Wauconda's Sarah Hackman sandwiched a second-round loss with a pair of wins.

In Class 1A, unseeded Kelsey Neville of Antioch beat her first two opponents, including Vernon Hills' Olivia Jazbutis, and drew Natalie Muldowney of Rockford Boylan in the third round. Antioch's Sjana Henderson went 0-2, as did Sequoits doubles players Emma DeJong/Elizabeth Gardner.

Jazbutis rebounded from her loss to Neville to win back-to-back matches. Vernon Hills' Kathy Chen/Leah Jacoby sandwiched a loss with a pair of wins, while their teammates Sydney Pacer/Weronika Przybylo went 0-2.

  Sabrina Mella of Warren wins her first-round match against Emma Lai of Rockford Auburn during the girls tennis state tournament at Palatine on Thursday. Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com
  Stevenson's Dhwani Kumar winning her first-round match against Eileen Carney of Joliet West Co-op during girls tennis state tournament play at Palatine High School. Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com
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