Geneva edges Batavia for WSC championship

Four-year Geneva standout Kayla Fujimoto had yet to play a single invitational before this weekend.

But the Vikings' star found herself on a series of fact-finding missions.

"I took a number of college visits," Fujimoto explained.

After committing to Indiana University in recent weeks, Fujimoto renewed her quest for perfection at the Western Sun Conference girls tennis tournament.

Sycamore junior Veronica Behrens pushed her to the limit, but Fujimoto outlasted her foe in three sets to capture her fourth consecutive No. 1 singles league title.

The Vikings were dominant in singles play and consistent enough in the four doubles brackets to extend their conference-winning streak to a decade-plus at three different sites on Saturday afternoon under dauntingly trying conditions.

"I think I was really nervous (before the championship match)," Fujimoto said of her 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 verdict over Behrens at Harner Middle School in Sugar Grove. "I have had a target on my back and I haven't played that much this season."

In essence, the career sweep by Fujimoto provided Geneva with the winning margin over Batavia, which held a razor-slim lead on the Vikings entering the two-day tournament as a result of its regular-season dual-match victory.

The Bulldogs' fourth doubles team of Kimmie Jernstad and Brooke Suitak needed three sets to turn back Geneva rivals Kirby Arloff and Val Saleski in the final championship match at Kaneland High School in Maple Park.

But the Bulldogs' second doubles victory only closed the Geneva gap to 30-27 in the final regular-season and tournament standings.

Glenbard South, which sported the No. 1 doubles champions in Olivia Bouchard and Emily Kaczmarek, was third with 21 points.

Sycamore (7.5), which hosted the third-singles matches, was a distant fourth, followed by Kaneland, Yorkville, Rochelle and DeKalb.

"The head-to-head matches (against Geneva) didn't go our way," said Batavia coach Brad Nelson. "That turned out to be the difference. We just didn't win the big match when we had to."

The Vikings' No. 1 doubles tandem of Jamie Potts and Alexa Rogers had a come-from-behind three-set victory over its counterparts from Batavia in the semifinals, and Carly Ausman continued the trend in the second-single finals against fellow sophomore Hannah Potter.

Reversing the results from the regular season, Ausman won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, to deny the Bulldogs' No. 2.

"I tried to take more control of the points," Ausman said. "Today I was a lot more aggressive than I was in our match during the regular season."

"Today, I think she just came out stronger," said Potter.

Liz Horonzy later made it a clean sweep for the Vikings' individuals with a victory at third singles.

"We came into this year skeptical (of winning another title) because we lost a lot of good players," Fujimoto said.

At second doubles, Batavia stayed within shouting distance when Mallory Ramp and Tamar Norville staved off a Glenbard South effort to force a decisive third set.

The duo broke the Raiders' serve and captured the final two games for a 6-3, 7-5 victory.

"The entire season we have had intense matches," said Norville. "We had to buckle down. We had to play against their weaknesses."

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the Vikings' third unit, juniors Stephanie Michaels and Abbey Baumer, earned the fourth conference championship for the squad with a straight-set win over the Bulldogs' Lauren Berczynski and Erika Connolly.

"In the end we had to be very consistent and not lose any unnecessary points," said Michaels.

Kaneland was paced by junior Lindsay Jurcenko, who earned fourth overall at first singles, a result that was later duplicated by the No. 1 doubles partnership of juniors Liz Webb and Olivia Emmanouil.

Bouchard and Kaczmarek completed a perfect season in the conference in claiming the top doubles prize for Glenbard South.

Thirty-seven of the 42 first-round and consolation matches were postponed by inclement weather on Friday, meaning it was long, mentally arduous day for the players in bone-chilling weather.

"It was hard to concentrate," said Kaczmarek, who will seek her second straight state doubles berth next week. "We definitely improved as we went along. We played to win and have fun."

Glenbard South coach Marc Woodcock sees definite postseason possibilities between the seasoned Kaczmarek and the athletic Bouchard.

"The No. 1 doubles team played great," said Woodcock. "They played to their seed. (Bouchard) has more speed and aggressiveness to get us downstate."

Lauren Kaczmarek, the younger sister of Emily, and fellow sophomore Amanda Kuhn also made the finals.

But the tandem fell 3-6, 5-7 in the second doubles finals.