St. Charles North comes up just short

Wednesday's regular season showdown in St. Charles between the Upstate Eight's top two teams turned on a single match.

Perennial power Neuqua Valley (8-2, 3-0) slipped by St. Charles North, 4-3, thanks in part to a three-set win by Aileen Hoffman and Laura Cioffi at No. 2 doubles.

"I was so proud of them," Neuqua Valley coach Trudy Bennorth said. "It comes down to the team that can be the most relaxed and wants it the most, and they did a good job of that."

Hoffman and Cioffi beat St. Charles North sophomores Carly Dutkiewicz and Lauren Drawbridge, 6-4 in the first set, then dropped the second, 6-2.

"I re-gripped my racket and I think that's what I needed," Cioffi said.

The North Stars led 5-2 in the decisive set, but it got away and the Wildcats closed out a 7-5 winner.

"We just needed to have more drive and have fun," Hoffman said.

The rest of the upper matches all went St. Charles North's way.

Annemijn Koenen turned in an impressive effort, sweeping Ali Peters at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 6-3.

"I had a very strong start in both sets, but she started playing better," Koenen said. "I started playing more consistent and was able to kick it up a notch."

Megan Gow cruised past Nisha Garg 6-1 in the opening set of their No. 2 singles match, and battled through the second before pulling it out, 6-4.

"She came out a lot stronger in the second set and I had to work harder to win the points," Gow said.

First doubles produced one of the day's most intense contests as Andrea Gentile and Liselot Koenen overcame a shaky second set to put away Sarah Eid and Jessica Murray, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, and put the match in the North Stars' win column.

"(Gentile and Koenen) haven't played together a whole lot, and did a really nice job," St. Charles North coach Tim Matacio said.

The Wildcats captured the other singles match as Lauren Silva swept Sarah Amalraj, 6-2, 6-1.

Neuqua Valley's Brittany Reese and Robin Harland beat Jenna Bell and Alecia Natale, 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3 doubles.

"We just had to play consistent and take it point by point," Reese said.

Consistency was vital in a match that could have gone either way.

"I'd heard it had been close in the past, so I knew this match would be significant," Harland said.

Jasmine Kavani and Alex Jones continued the Wildcats' impressive show of team depth by surviving a tough second set and topping Jenny Durkop and Anna McLean, 6-2, 7-5.

Despite the disappointing loss, the North Stars (4-4-1, 2-1) were optimistic about their overall performance.