WW South senior Burek has moment of triumph
After dropping the first set of the play-in match to qualify at singles for the girls tennis state tournament from Saturday's Neuqua Valley sectional, Courtney Burek of Wheaton Warrenville South had what could be described as a "senior moment."
"I realized that it's my senior year and qualifying for state was my goal," Burek said. "I wanted to finish strong. After all the tennis I've played, I knew I could go out there and win the next two sets."
Joyce Hanlon of Benet took the first set 6-4, and then Burek battled back to win the next two 6-4, 6-4 and qualified for state for the second year in a row.
"In the first set I was going for a few too many angles," Burek said. "I then controlled myself and tried to regain my rhythm. It was a good match."
Coaches and observers agreed that both Burek and Hanlon are state-tournament quality players and that it was unfortunate that only one would move on to the sectional semifinals and earn state qualification.
"It was a really close match," said Tigers coach Patti Clousing. "Joyce was so consistent. She made few unforced errors."
"Courtney got aggressive when she had to," said Benet coach Bob Comerford. "She was hitting the short balls and putting them away. But it was a great match for Joyce because it showed that she can play with anyone. It was a good loss, if there is such a thing, and it will really help her confidence for her senior season."
The Tigers team of Melanie Milling and Andrea Kerwin won the doubles competition with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Benet's Kelly Carney and Elissa Sledz in the finals.
"Melanie and Andrea started playing together in the off-season and they've been getting better and better since the season started," Clousing said. "Today they really attacked net balls, used the angles and set each other up really well."
Neuqua Valley finished first in the team standings with 19 points, while Benet and Wheaton Warrenville South tied for second with 14 points.
"I'm very excited we got three of our four units to state," said Neuqua Valley coach Trudy Bennorth.
The Wildcats' Emily Meyers won the singles championship with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Benet's Cassie Kovach in a battle between two talented freshmen.
"Emily has fulfilled everything we hoped for her this year," Bennorth said. "She's talented and just so coachable. If I critique her and see a weakness and tell her about it, she goes right out and corrects it."
Wildcats singles player Natalie Peters and doubles team Ali Peters and Sarah Eid also qualified for state.
For Natalie Peters, a junior, the qualification was especially satisfying because after a strong freshman year, she didn't make the Neuqua varsity last year.
"This is a great feeling," Natalie Peters said. "I played a lot more in the off-season and that helped me become a better player. Today I was hitting the ball deep and moving my opponents around."
Carney and Sledz, the sixth-seeded doubles team, pulled off a pair of upsets over higher-placed teams in order to make it to the finals.
"When you play doubles for three years the way Kelly and Elissa have, experience comes into play," Comerford said. "There was no fear factor. We knew going in that there wasn't a doubles team in the tournament we couldn't play with and beat."