Wheeling duo has perfect end

A tense match could create a lot of tension between badminton doubles partners.

But Wheeling senior Ashley Lepcin and junior Karolina Sabaliauskaite ended up as a perfect pair because of an early-season injury.

Lepcin and Sabaliauskaite finished their perfect season together with a Mid-Suburban League title at No. 1 doubles Friday night at Wheeling. They beat Palatine's Niki Patel and Katie Van Grondelle 21-14, 21-11.

"She's awesome," Sabaliauskaite said of Lepcin after their last doubles match since they will concentrate on singles in the sectional.

"We played really well together today," Lepcin said. "We did really well."

Wheeling also got a title at No. 5 from Shannon Chechang and Somie Tsogtbaatar to score 18.5 points and lead the MSL tourney after the doubles portion. Hersey (17) is second and Prospect (16) is third going into today's singles competition at Wheeling.

Lepcin and Sabaliauskaite had a tough semifinal match where they lost the first game to Nisargi Thakkar and Christina Lange. But the Wheeling duo didn't lose its cool and rallied for an 18-21, 21-19, 21-17 victory.

"At points it got a little shaky," Lepcin said. "The good thing about us is we motivate each other a lot. It's good to have a partner like that. We never yell at each other."

Defending MSL and state champion Fremd is sixth with 13.5 points. Jenna Langhorst and Erica Lee, who are both 33-1 at singles, took the No. 2 doubles title 21-17, 21-12 over Meagan Matias and Hailey Miller of Hersey.

Langhorst and Lee usually play doubles in duals but not in invitational-type events.

"It was kind of weird but we got used to it," Langhorst said.

Now Langhorst and Lee will look to do their part for Fremd today.

"We have a lot to make up in singles," Langhorst said.

"Our singles is strong and it will pick up," Lee said.

"We're in striking distance," said Fremd coach Bob Hanson. "Now it's singles time and I've got a lot of confidence in singles pulling us through."

MSL East champion Hersey got a No. 4 doubles title from Jackie Black and Sonal Patel. Prospect's Lindsay Miller and Julie Provenza won the No. 3 doubles crown.