Koenen, St. Charles North win sectional titles

Tennis is often viewed as a leisurely sport, but on a windy, leisurely fall day, St. Charles North's Liselot Koenen was focused on attaining her main goal to be the St. Charles East sectional singles champion.

Not only did she accomplish her personal goal, but her win propelled the North Stars to a sectional team title as well. The North Stars captured the title, scoring 22 points, while Bartlett was second with 19. Geneva finished third with 16.

“It was kind of on me, because if I won, we won sectionals, so it was a really big win, Koenen said. “It was a very good match and very close. I was really trying to stay calm and had a lot of nerves because it was my senior year. My goal is to finish in the top 15 in state.

Koenen fought off a valiant effort by Bartlett freshman Jen Gates to win the sectional singles championship, 6-1, 6-4. In the first round, Koenen defeated Sycamore sophomore Lydia Moore, 6-0, 6-0. She made quick work of West Chicago junior Frida Carmaco, 6-0, 6-0 in the second round, and then defeated Wheaton Academy freshman Lexi Welton, 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the championship round.

Gates defeated Geneva sophomore Sarah Kappale in round one, and Wheaton Academy junior Emmie Chan in round two, both 6-0, 6-0. In round three, Gates outlasted Sycamore senior Veronica Behrens (6-4, 5-7, 6-0) to earn her place in the championship.

Koenen had Gates down 5-2 in the second set, but Gates made it 5-4 during her final serve.

Gates trained hard in the summer to compete at the varsity level this year and will focus on getting her serves down into the wind before next weekend's state meet.

“I was really excited and I trained really hard this summer, Gates said. “She's (Koenen) a great player and I knew it was going to be tough. I was having problems getting my serves in, but obviously, she's very good.

St. Charles North coach Eve Tubman said she enjoyed watching the quality match between two of the area's top singles players.

“I'm glad that she played Jen in the final because they played each other during the season and it was a great match, Tubman said. “I think she played very relaxed and it worked out well for her. This will be her fourth year going to state.

Bartlett coach Sue Hannula said Gates' nerves might have finally caught up to her in her final match of the day.

“I think she came in a little bit nervous, but in the end she came back and made us real proud in how she finished that last set, Hannula said. “I think she really wanted to make her mark in her freshman year. I told her that she's had a great year and she's going to be really good.

Koenen, Gates, Welton and Behrens all advanced to the state singles meet next weekend.

After waiting nearly four hours to play the championship, the St. Charles East's doubles team of Erin Bowman and Claire Hafner defeated Geneva's Carly Ausman and Claire Chlasta, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.

Bowman and Hafner defeated Bartlett's Katie Gates and Gabby Gregorio, 6-1, 6-4 to make it to the final, and Ausman and Chlasta defeated Kaneland's Lindsey Jurcenko and Amelia Napiorkowski, 6-1, 0-6, 6-3. All four of those teams will play at state.

St. Charles East coach Sena Drawer expected her top doubles team to make it to the state meet this year, and is hoping that they both play well next weekend.

“They were the No. 1 seed, so I think they're meeting all of our expectations to at least go to state, Drawer said. “Down state you just want to play well. We just want them to do the best they can. This will be Erin's fourth trip, and her goal is to go as far as she can.

Geneva coach Maureen Weiler said getting Ausman and Chlasta to be more aggressive could help them be even more successful next weekend.

“It's real easy to try to play it safe, Weiler said. “They just need to be more aggressive and dictate the match to their opponents instead of letting their opponent dictate it to them. We're looking forward to competing at the state meet. You go down there and it's match to match, so you just try to survive as long as you can.

The teams of Bowman/Hafner, Ausman/Chlasta, Gates/Gregorio, and Jurcenko/Napiorkowski all advanced to state.