Perfect outing for WW South's Burek at Downers S.
Courtney Burek is keeping an eye on the big picture as she continues to impress during this girls tennis season.
The Wheaton Warrenville South senior, who went undefeated in four matches (two doubles and two singles) to help the Tigers to a fourth-place finish in Saturday's Downers Grove South "Team" Tournament, is hoping to attract the attention of Division I colleges and an offer of a tennis scholarship to play at the next level.
"My goal for this year is to win a scholarship," Burek said. "During the summer, I spent hours training and playing every day and that thought has been pushing me. I think it would be great to play Division I. My sister Christine played at the University of Connecticut and she's my role model."
In Saturday's tournament, which was won by defending state champion Hinsdale Central, Burek, had the rare opportunity to play doubles. She and her partner Katrina Geannopolous, won both their matches.
"It was great playing doubles," said Burek, who has been at first singles for the Tigers since her freshman year. "I got a chance to work on my volleys and coming to the net. And it was nice having a partner on the court. Katrina and I had good communication."
Then in the semifinals Burek defeated the Red Devils' Anne Lombardi 6-3, 7-5.
The Tiger trailed for most of the second set and finally took the lead at 6-5 to account for her team's only point in the round as the Red Devils beat them 4 matches to 1.
"When I was behind I knew deep down that I had the energy to win this match," Burek said. "I'm a lot more confident than before and I knew I could beat a good player."
"Courtney's win was the first point we've taken off of Hinsdale Central," said Wheaton Warrenville South coach Patty Clousing. "She played with confidence, got to everything and executed well. It's a pleasure to watch her play like that."
Burek and Geannopolous both won their singles matches in the team battle for third-place, but Lincoln-Way East won the three doubles matches to take the consolation round.
The tournament championship was a tribute to the depth and skill of Hinsdale Central, which was missing state champion doubles player Courtney Dolehide and state singles greats Hanna Mar and Kate Klein. Dolehide's state-title partner Nida Hamilton, who had a family gathering to attend, played only in the finals, where she came from behind in the first set and defeated Barrington's Kristy Dodge 6-4, 6-3.
Other than the loss to Burek, the Red Devils dropped only one other match all day. Their only other defeat came on a forfeit due to injury during a super tiebreaker in an earlier round. They were 18-2 on the day.
"I told my team that if they have a college visit or important appointment, its fine with me as along as I know ahead of time," said Hinsdale Central coach Jerilyn Scardina. "We have so much depth we can get through anything. We have some really good players who aren't in our state lineup and they had the opportunity to prove they're strong enough, which they did today."