Dechter rocks tourney with upset of No. 1

Since the last time sophomores Ari Dechter of Mundelein and Maddie Lipp of Lake Forest faced each other on the tennis court, the weather has gotten cooler and windier.

But the biggest change heading into their third-round match in the state tournament Thursday?

Dechter's mind set.

And guess what happened?

On a sunny-but-windy day at Conant High School in Hoffman Estates, Dechter breezed.

She accounted for the biggest story on Day 1, upsetting Lipp, the top seed, in surprisingly convincing fashion, 6-3, 6-3.

“Ari must have played out of her mind,” said Mundelein senior Paige Parola, who had a good day herself, as she and doubles partner Ali MacDonald won their first two matches at Rolling Meadows before dropping their third.

Parola was right about the “mind” part.

Dechter had lost twice to Lipp during the regular season, including 6-0, 6-1 in the No. 1 singles final at the North Suburban Conference meet almost two weeks ago.

“I went in with a better attitude (Thursday), as opposed to the other matches,” Dechter said. “I had a winning attitude, instead of being intimidated. My attitude really helped a lot.”

Dechter, a 17-32 seed who went 1-1 at state last year, lost in the Highland Park sectional final to Carmel Catholic senior Jasmine Minor, who was another Lake County product to go undefeated Thursday and, as a result, reach the top 16.

Stevenson freshman Alexxis Kiven and Grayslake North senior Kelly Poggensee-Wei also went 3-0 on Day 1.

Like Parola and MacDonald, Stevenson's doubles team of sophomore Gabby Demchenko and freshman Danielle Vasiliev won their first two before losing in Round 3.

Dechter said both she and Lipp played well in their match, but Dechter called the wind a “huge advantage” for herself.

“Most people don't like the wind,” she said. “But I love the wind.”

Dechter had little trouble in her first two matches against Illiana Christian's Zhavia Gray and Hinsdale South's Lindy Wing, winning 6-0, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-1, respectively. Her strong play carried over to her match against Lipp, and her “nothing to lose” mentality, as she put it, proved wonderful.

Lipp had dominated her first two matches, as well, capturing 6-2, 6-0 and 6-3, 6-1 wins.

“I like revenge matches,” Dechter said. “The third time was the charm, I guess.”

Parola and MacDonald started with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Salem's Jessica Piper and Elizabeth Chapman, then topped Glenbard East's Megan Wachholz and Manuela Tchobalieva 6-1, 7-6 (5).

“We played really well,” Parola said. “We were aggressive and poached as much as we could. We focused on getting first serves in and hitting solid cross-court returns.”

Minor, a 3-4 seed, lost only 3 games in her three matches. She earned her top-16 berth with a 6-1, 6-0 decision over 17-32 seed Haley O'Connor of Maine South.

Poggensee-Wei, a 5-8 seed, started with a 6-0, 6-0 win, followed with a 6-1, 6-2 victory and then knocked off 17-32 seed Jennifer Gates of Bartlett 6-3, 6-2.

Kiven, another 17-32 seed, lost just 2 games in her first two matches, before besting Hinsdale Central's Jackie Altansarnai 7-5, 6-2.

Warren senior Michelle Dutt lost her opening-round match, picked up back-to-back back-draw wins, but then dropped a 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 decision in her fourth match.

The doubles teams of Libertyville's Meghan Ahlgrim/MK Lee and Warren's Lauren Chibucos/Avani Patel both won in Round 1 but lost in Round 2.

Warren's Jenna Westerberg/Max Mella lost their opening match. They rebounded to win 2 back-draw matches, before being eliminated with a 6-3, 7-5 defeat.

Ahlgrim/Lee won a match in the back draw, but lost their fourth match.