Batavia tennis wins its quad…again
When Morris didn't show for Saturday morning's four-team tournament, Batavia's Quad became a trio.
The Bulldogs (6-3) took it in stride, beating IMSA and DeKalb to finish first in the event for the fifth year in a row, and the seventh time overall.
"The girls know that we've had a nice run with this, and their friends and family are here, so they get up for it," Batavia coach Brad Nelson said.
The event started with the best match of the day, as Batavia got past IMSA, 5-2.
Alexa Schofield got off to a fast start against Caroline Horn and never looked back, winning the No. 1 singles match in impressive fashion, 6-3, 6-2.
"I found her weakness, which is her backhand, and I used that," Schofield said.
After winning the opening set of the second singles match, 6-2, Kim Sawyer found herself in a battle with junior Abby Chao. Sawyer managed to squeeze out a 7-6 second set win to put that match away, but teammate Kristen Sapyta wasn't as fortunate at No. 3 singles, dropping one to Ade Koleba, 6-2, 6-3.
The Titans also won the first doubles match as Sushma Kola and Gabby Heller stepped up to beat Jessica Riemenschnider and Abby Link, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2.
"They're typically our second doubles team, but they have the capability of playing up," IMSA coach Jim Bernardini said.
The rest of the doubles matches wound up in Batavia's win column.
Elena Mudrak and Mallory Ramp swept Ana Filipac and Justina Cho, 6-3, 6-2 at second doubles, while Sarah Nikonchuck and Shelby Lauman did the same to Iris Liu and Gokie Pillai, 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3. Anne Keane and Mallory Porter had a tougher go of it against Ana Domitescu and Anita Parik at fourth doubles, but managed to put a forgettable second set behind them and won the match, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.
The Bulldogs had little trouble against DeKalb (1-8), sweeping the Barbs for the second time in a week, 7-0.
Sawyer completed a perfect day, beating Rikki Schram, 6-0, 6-3, for her eighth straight win.
"It was exciting to win my first match at number one," Sawyer said. "It's nice to be able to play different positions and get a feel for everything."
Schofield also had an easy time of it with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Kaitlyn Bowden. The Bulldogs completed their singles sweep as Sapyta topped Cora Sisler, 6-3, 6-0.
Batavia's doubles teams were even more dominant, sweeping all eight sets, while dropping just 6 games.
Mudrak and Ramp moved up to No. 1 without missing a beat, defeating Christina Siaba and Hannah McClure, 6-1, 6-1, while Riemenschnider and Link bounced back from their first round loss to cruise past Esther Schezie and Molly McClure, 6-0, 6-1.
Nikonchuck and Lauman at third singles, and Keane and Porter at No. 4, each won their second match of the day.
The pick up some of the slack for Morris' no-show, Nelson put together a second Batavia team that went up against IMSA and DeKalb. While that squad didn't win either of those team competitions, they did manage to take three matches from the Barbs.
"Next year we'll find a competitive team to take Morris' place, but this was really a no lose situation for us," Nelson said.
IMSA (5-3) beat DeKalb, 7-0, to finish second.
Girls volleyball
DuPage Area Tournament:ŒSt. Charles North ended the DuPage Area Girls Volleyball Tournament on a high note, but left Wheaton North feeling unsatisfied.
The North Stars concluded the 16-team tourney Saturday afternoon with a 25-21, 25-22 victory against Willowbrook. Gretchen Giesler led a balanced attack with 4 kills and Elin Smith tallied 10 assists for the winners.
The problem was the match was for 13th place.
"I think we're all pretty disappointed with the way it worked out," St. Charles North coach Lindsay Trudell said of the tourney. "We played really well against Downers North and Naperville Central, and unfortunately (those matches) just didn't go our way."
Trudell pointed to a 15-25, 25-20, 25-18 pool loss to Wheaton Academy as one in a string of matches that her North Stars (9-6) could have won.
"It's right there every single time and we just aren't doing a very good job of grabbing it when we have the chance," she said. "We've got to really practice closing the door and playing up our strengths."
Elsewhere in the tourney, Naperville North proved it's more than All-America Colleen Ward.
The Huskies combined a team effort with 17 kills by Ward to knock off previously unbeaten Wheaton Warrenville South 21-25, 25-16, 25-21 in the championship match.
"We had a lot of people contribute," Huskies coach Jennifer Urban said. "I'm very proud of these girls because they're finding ways to get it done."
Strong defense, tough serving and a minimum of mistakes helped the Huskies (14-1) overcome the potent firepower of its DuPage Valley Conference rival.
"It shows how we play really well as a team," Ward said. "We're not just good at one thing. We can put it all together."
"I think our team did just a really good job of coming in with no hesitation and being aggressive and having enough confidence to overcome that we were the underdogs," Naperville North libero Christine Wu said.
WW South's Becca Zlabis smacked a match-high 20 kills.
The Tigers (14-1) registered 39 kills to Naperville North's 30 but committed more errors than the Huskies.
"The big thing that pops up is the fact that we made 44 errors," WW South coach Bill Schreier said. "You can't do that against quality opponents."
The Tigers scored the last 4 points of Game 1 to claim the opener on a kill by Dayana Rodriguez. Then Ward unleashed 11 kills in Game 2 to send the match to a third game.
Ward's first kill of Game 3 gave Naperville North a 13-8 lead. The Tigers drew within 22-21 on a Zlabis kill, but a serving error and back-to-back aces by Jordan Pappas delivered the title to the Huskies.
Sandburg (8-2) posted a 25-20, 35-37, 25-15 win versus Downers Grove North (8-4) to take third in the quality 16-team field. Terese Byrne had 9 kills in the loss.
"It's great to play this caliber of competition," Downers North coach Laura Johnwick said. "Unfortunately against Wheaton Warrenville South we played scared (in a 25-16, 25-15 semifinal loss). Then against Sandburg we struggled to put the ball away for some reason."
Naperville Central (12-3) took fifth with a 25-20, 25-23 triumph over Downers Grove South (8-3) behind Emily McGee's 10 kills.
"Overall, I'm happy with their performance, " Naperville Central coach Brie Isaacson said of her Redhawks. "I think they're really stepping it up."
Neuqua Valley (6-4) finished seventh with a 30-28, 25-21 win against Prairie Ridge (8-7) paced by Brittany Mikottis' 6 kills.
"We're a much better team leaving the tournament than when we came," Wildcats coach Kelly Simon said. "That growth is very evident. These are some great teams. Being in a higher caliber tournament is what we need to do."
-- Dave Miller
Boys cross country
Minooka Invite:ŒHinsdale South took the team title with 19 points, beating Conant's 21 and Marmion's 26. Zack Young won the 6th flight for Marmion with a time of 16:27. Ben Kanute and Bennett Marsh took second place in their respective flights.
Boys golf
Charger Classic:ŒGlenbard West's Shane Bryant didn't play his best golf on Saturday.
As a team, Glenbard West did.
Bryant, who had shot a 68 two years ago at the Dundee-Crown Charger Classic, finished with a 73 and the Hilltoppers shot a course-record 299 in order to take top honors, holding off Cary-Grove (300) and Benet (301). Crystal Lake South (306) and Crystal Lake Central (307) rounded out the top 5 teams at the 34th annual invite held at Randall Oaks in West Dundee.
"We played well here in the past," Glenbard West coach Paul Hezlett said. "It was a good day for us."
The Hilltoppers rode a 1-stroke victory over Hinsdale Central on Wednesday into Saturday's invite. Bryant (73) finished ninth, Jake Toliver (72) finished fifth and Jeff Davis (74) 10th for Glenbard West.
Geneva shot 325 to take 11th. Braden Dalton and Braden Thompson shot 80s to lead the Vikings.
-- Matt Stacionis
Aurora Central Catholic Invite: Rockford Lutheran took the team title at Phillips Park with a 290, ahead of West Aurora and Wheaton Academy, who both finished at 314.
David Flynn of the Warriors earned medalist honors with a 69. West Aurora's Brandon Vicory finished third with a 71. Jeff Hund's 81 paced the host Chargers.