Girls tennis: Fremd's doubles team shine at sectional
Highland Park hosted one of the most competitive Class 2A girls tennis sectionals in the state Saturday afternoon. The field of contenders included three schools that finished in the Top 10 in the 2017 state tournament in Lake Forest, Highland Park and Deerfield.
Deerfield, Fremd, Highland Park and Lake Forest all won their respective sectionals in 2017. However, Lake Forest bested this year's field with 28 points and sending three Scout positions to the state tournament. Highland Park fell to second place with 23 points, while Fremd took third with 22.
Fremd, Hersey, Buffalo Grove and Wheeling competed in this tourney.
Fremd's doubles teams of freshman Akari Matsuno/sophomore Kyra Emmanouilidis and senior Diya Matta/junior Kelli Ha are both heading to the state tournament, as well as Hersey's freshman No. 1 singles player Natalie Osiecki.
Emmanouilidis/Matsuno remained undefeated this season and added more hardware to their 2018 collection as they notched a doubles sectionals championship.
" (Emmanouilidis/Matsuno) have played three months with high expectations against highly rated opponents and haven't blinked," said Fremd coach Scott Newmark. "Winning the sectional is a nice boost of confidence for them. We will be fine-tuning a few things before Thursday like volleys and serves. There's a lot of things in state tennis that are out of your control. Coach (Lauren) O'Donnell left me with enormous talent. Illinois state tennis is a beast."
The top-seeded No. 1 Viking doubles team notched wins over Highland Park senior Monique Brual/junior Samara Michael 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals as well as Lake Forest junior Nika Belova/sophomore Olivia Wheldon 6-0, 6-2.
Brual/Michael finished in the top eight of last year's state tournament.
This is Emmanouilidis's second trip to the Buffalo Grove-hosted state tournament as she qualified in 2017 at singles. After a runner-up showing at the Hersey sectional in 2017 (faltering to teammate Matta), the Fremd sophomore tallied one win at state. Matsuno/Emmanouilidis are likely to be one of the top seeds.
"We've played these teams before, but it was higher stakes and more pressure," Matsuno said. "It's a lot of fun because you're allowed to cheer in high school tennis. It's nice to cheer for your team and hear support from your teammates."
"We do what we need to do to win," Emmanouilidis said. "We can't worry about what's going on with everything else. Akari and I were good friends from USTA. So it's been so much fun playing with your friend. When I get emotional, Akari always knows how to calm me down so I can control myself on the court. I need to practice this week on serving. (I need to practice) serving times a million."
Osiecki was seeded third in the sectional, and she finished in third place. The Hersey freshman came into Saturday fresh off registering her first Mid-Suburban League title in No. 1 singles.
This is Hersey's first state qualifier since 2013 (Sara Magnuson).
"(Osiecki) struggled with her injuries early in the season and she has overcome her difficult challenge," said Hersey coach Sharon Meintzer. "(Osiecki) complements the program. Everyone's aligned and improved dramatically over the season. Even though (Osiecki) is the only (Hersey player) to qualify, four of her teammates showed up this morning and that made all the difference when they were cheering her on.
"The chemistry of the program is immense and it's a pleasure coaching (Osiecki). You can't really speculate, but I think (Osiecki) will be in the top 16."
Osiecki faltered 6-0, 6-1 in the semifinal to Kiley Rabjohns of Lake Forest, who finished fifth overall in the state tournament in 2017. In the third place match, Osiecki rebounded by defeating Scout teammate sophomore Cody Avis 6-1, 6-2.
The Huskies player's loss in the semifinals was only her second on the season. Osiecki's only other loss was against Normal U-High freshman McKenna Schaefbauer, who recorded a Class 1A sectional title on Saturday.
"I was playing my game," Osiecki said. "I don't like to think about the past or the future, but I just want to play my best game, do what I can and show what I got (at the state tournament)."
Matta punched her third and final ticket to the state tournament, while Ha is taking her second trip to the tourney. The Fremd senior was the singles sectional champion in 2017, while Ha along with graduated sister Elsie was the sectional runner-up in the aforementioned season.
The No. 2 Fremd duo faltered to Lake Forest's Belova/Wheldon 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 and Highland Park's Brual/Michael 6-0, 6-3. The only other loss Matta/Ha had this season was a 10-point tiebreaker where they played against their teammates Emmanouilidis/Matsuno in the Mustang Invite two weeks prior.
"After the first set (against Lake Forest), we played not to lose," Matta said. "We have to learn from this because losing now will help us for state. We're happy we have teammates going to state with."
"Losing (stinks)," Ha said. "It's a learning experience for us going into state. It's harder to repeat success. Sectionals is so different than the regular season, because every match you're playing past state qualifiers."
At Lake Park: Schaumburg senior Emma Tatar won the singles championship Saturday at the Class 2A Lake Park girls tennis sectional. Tatar defeated Elgin's Marta Krakowski in the championship match. Conant freshman Natalia Sadon finished fourth to advance to next week's state tournament. Advancing in doubles play from the Lake Park sectional were Conant's Grace Park/Simren Mahajan (2nd) and Schaumburg's Rhea Arora/Nur Sucu (4th).
At Glenbrook South: Maine West senior Maja Kozerski won the singles championship and Elk Grove senior Jovana Vujanic took third place to earn their spots at state. In doubles, Elk Grove's Peyton Oda/Lauren Oda advanced by placing third.
Class 1A at Vernon Hills: St. Viator's doubles team of Tess McLaughlin/Emma Zajac finished in fourth place to advance to state.