UEC crown makes Neuqua pair feel better
Neuqua Valley senior Ali Peters wasn't feeling well Saturday. The cold weather and chilling wind didn't help her feel any better. But an Upstate Eight Conference No. 1 doubles championship did.
Peters and Aileen Hoffman beat St. Charles North's Jenna Bell and Alecia Natale 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the championship match at South Elgin.
"I'm feeling great besides the sickness," said Peters, who believes she has the flu. "We fought through the hard weather and pulled through."
The victory at No. 1 doubles was just one of the championships for the Wildcats, who claimed the team title. St. Charles North got titles in No. 3 singles from Kate Lesswig and in No. 3 doubles from Sarah Amalraj and Kris Wolverton to finish second.
Bell and Natale won the final three games of the first set against Peters and Hoffman to take the opening set 6-4. They served for the match at 5-4, but Bell's serve was broken. After a break back to take a 6-5 lead, Natale served for the match and also was broken to force a tiebreak.
Peters and Hoffman won 6 points in a row for a 6-1 lead and won the tiebreak 7-3 to force a third set.
"There's so much pressure and you want it so bad, sometimes it doesn't end up the way you want it," Natale said.
"It was a really good match. It was neck and neck almost the whole time," Bell said. "The wind really effected us. We were freezing out there."
Both teams struggled to hold their serve in the final set. Peters and Hoffman broke Bell to win the match. The teams meet earlier in the season with Peters and Hoffman winning in straight sets.
"I know our goal is to get top 10 in state," Hoffman said. "We're just going to play the best we can to do in (next week's) sectional."
Neuqua's Alexa Geist and Lexi Szmanda also needed three sets to beat St. Charles North's Lauren Drawbridge and Carly Dutkiewicz 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 in the No. 2 doubles title match.
The Wildcats' No. 4 doubles team of Christine Zhang and Ashley Cha won the title by defeating St. Charles North's Ashley Randazzo and Steph Smith 6-4, 6-1. Emily Meyer won the No. 1 singles crown for Neuqua, beating St. Charles North's Liselot Koenen 6-4, 6-2. The North Stars' Lesswig lost the first set against Neuqua's Robin Harland, but rebounded for a 4-6, 6-0, 6-0 victory.
Amalraj and Wolverton also lost the first set before rallying for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory in the No. 3 doubles title match over the Wildcats' Kelley Cain and Lizzie Savino.