Doubles edge lifts Saints over Vikings

Though not 100 percent certified rivals, the St. Charles East and Geneva girls tennis teams duked it out Monday in a heated nonconference contest.

The result was the Saints edging the Vikings 4-3, thanks to a sweep in doubles play in Geneva.

"It's great for the kids because this is always a fun match," St. Charles East coach Sena Drawer said. "We plan this (meet) to be at the end of the season, the neighborhoods are close together, (Geneva coach Maureen Weiler) and I are friends, so it's always an exciting and fun match. They've been getting the best of us the last couple of years, so it was nice to come out on top."

"It's a very nice rivalry going between the two," Weiler added.

Only one doubles match was completed in two sets. St. Charles East's No. 1 duo of Stefanie Youngberg and Erin Bowman beat Mary Pelling and Krista Panko, 7-5, 6-3. The rest took a little more time to complete.

"(Doubles) has always been our strength," Drawer said. "We always take our strength and put it at doubles for the most part. For Erin and Stefanie to win that first doubles match will really help their sectional seeding, so that's a nice, big win for them."

No. 2 Courtney Vazquez and Anne Mason topped Alena Rogers and Jamie Potts, 5-7, 6-0, 6-1. No. 3 Cyrielle Gauthier and Alana Herbrand defeated Maddie Suchor and Sarah Zacchea, 7-5, 6-7 (2), 10-8. No. 4 Sarah Johnson and Kelsey Bickert beat Claire Chlasta and Cassie Johnson, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 13-11.

"It's senior year and beating Geneva, that's cool," Herbrand said. "It was so close and we are just really happy we won."

"I felt for sure we would pull one of the four doubles out," Weiler added. "They were so close. You got to hand it to St. Charles (East). They came back and were so close. They played really well. This was some great tennis out here."

Geneva was highly successful in singles play, as it quickly swept all its opponents in two sets. No. 1 Kayla Fujimoto beat Lexi Baltes 6-0, 6-0 with matching scores from Carly Ausman against Catey Esler. Erin Reilly defeated Liz Horonzy, 6-0, 6-1.

"It's good knowing we have strong singles," Fujimoto said. "It's nice to know all of us were able to win easily."