Something new for Warriors
It was a learning experience for Waubonsie Valley first and second singles players Kelsey Sappington and Caitlin Fortuna, and they definitely earned passing grades.
The Waubonsie juniors played doubles together for the first time at Saturday's Tiger Tennis Doubles Invitational Tournament in Wheaton, won two matches and went to a super tiebreak before falling in the fifth-doubles finals.
"Normally they have to face some of the best and hardest hitting singles players in the Nos. 1 and 2 spots," said Waubonsie Valley Coach Phil Galow. "But today they got a chance to relax against people who are more their speed. They didn't have to face any big hitters. But they're new at doubles and they picked up the concept of the doubles game as the day went along. It was fun to watch."
Both Sappington and Fortuna enjoyed the experience and thought lessons learned would help them in the future as singles players. They both saw big improvement in their play at the net and thought that will make them better in that area when they return to their customary singles positions on Monday.
"As the day went on we learned to coordinate and communicate better," Fortuna said. "It was a big adjustment but we figured it out toward the end of the first match. And we both got better at volleys throughout the day. Kelsey's forehand was consistent and my serves were strong.
"It was nice to have the whole court and not just play within the singles lines," Sappington said. "But it was weird having two players to have to beat on the other side of the net."
In the finals, the Warriors' duo lost to Brittany Hughes and Alyssa Howland of Glenbrook South, the tournament champion 7-6 (8-6), 3-6 and 1-10 in the super tiebreak.
They missed the opportunity to tie it at 4-4 in the second set and that proved fatal, because they lost the final game and then couldn't recover in the tiebreak.
"By the end of the day, they looked like doubles players," Galow said. "After winning the first set in the finals and having a chance to tie it in the second, they really struggled in the tiebreaker. They have to understand that you have to slow points down in the tiebeaker. But losing there was symptomatic of our team's troubles all year. We haven't been able to handle the pressure."
Glenbrook South scored 32 to win the team title, with Wheaton North and Prairie Ridge tied for second place at 27, followed by Glenbard South with 26, Batavia, 23, Wheaton Warrenville South 22, Waubonsie Valley 16 and Lake Park7.
Wheaton North's Chesleigh Rogers and Annie Torppey, won the championship match at fourth doubles for their first tournament victory.
Rogers and Torppey, best friends since the second grade, defeated Danielle Balzano and Ashley Lee of Glenbrook South 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 in the finals.
"We were making too many unforced errors in the second set," Rogers said. "But then we got it together for the third set. We were pretty aggressive all day, and because we're so close we're finding it easy to work together."