Seconds add up to 1st for Jacobs at own invite
Jacobs used a lot of 2s to add up to No. 1.
The Golden Eagles took second place in each bracket of their own Golden Eagle Invitational girls tennis tournament Saturday, but wound up edging out Fenwick 41-40 to take the team championship for the second straight year.
"This is a really important tournament for us," Jacobs' coach Jon Betts said. We have some tough teams here."
Fenwick and Maine South both had the Golden Eagles seeing double.
Maine South freshman twins Audrey and Haley O'Connor took first in No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively.
Audrey (21-2) defeated Jacobs senior Jen Ruther (12-7) 6-0, 6-1 to take first in No. 1 singles. Sister Haley took a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Jacobs' Kat Makridakis to win the No. 2 singles and keep her record perfect at 22-0.
"I was confident coming in," Haley O'Connor said.
Ruther was confident coming out.
With the Fox Valley Conference meet and sectionals right around the corner, Ruther liked the ability to play competition like she saw on Saturday.
"It was a fun match," Ruther said of her match with Haley O'Connor. "It's always great to play a girl like that. Whenever I'm in a tournament, I'm always hoping to play (the best)."
Jacobs' doubles teams also got a look at some of the best.
The Golden Eagles faced Fenwick in all 3 doubles championships matches.
No. 3 doubles Sam Thomas and Sarah Powers fell 5-7, 6-5, 10-4 in a marathon match to take second. The No. 1 doubles squad of seniors Kellie Stoka and Melissa Blunk fell to Fenwick's senior duo of Alison Seyfarth and Rachel Canforna, 6-4, 6-2.
The No. 2 doubles team of Heather Graham and Aimee Neilah rounded the second-place trophies with a 6-1, 6-1 defeat to Fenwick's Kathleen Kelly and Julie Comfort.
"We were steady across the board," Betts said. "We hung in there with some really tough teams."
Maine South finished third with 38 points, while Lakes (27) took fourth. Larkin and Elmwood Park each shared fifth, while Dundee-Crown and Hampshire each finished with 19 points.
First-year program Hampshire also found itself in the mix of singles competitors. Juniors Vanessa Patthana and Kelsey Burke each finished fourth in the tournament. Burke fell to Lakes' Olga Aguilera Rivero 6-0, 6-0 and Patthana (2-14) lost 6-1, 6-0.
The fourth-place finished is the second time this year that Burke (3-13) has placed at a tournament. The first was a third-place finish at Rockford Jefferson.
"They both won their first match, which is pretty good," Hampshire coach Barry Hanrahan said. "They were both long and they never quit."