Van Grondelle, Tsurumi a championship combo
Maggie Van Grondelle was looking for a new badminton doubles partner after her sister Katie graduated from Palatine.
Maggie Van Grondelle, a junior who had won two state medals, had never played with Tomoyo Tsurumi before this season. But Van Grondelle liked what she saw from the sophomore who just missed making it to the state tournament a year ago.
“At the beginning of practice this year I told coach (Alison West) that I thought it would be a good idea for us to play with each other,” Van Grondelle said. “We started playing together at practice and open gyms and started to play pretty well together.”
The best for Van Grondelle and Tsurumi played out Saturday afternoon in the state tourney at Eastern Illinois University’s Lantz Gym in Charleston. The second-seeded duo won the state title 21-19, 23-21 over the 5-8 seed Mary Kate Monahan and Kara Redmer of Willowbrook.
“I can’t even describe it and I don’t think it’s set in yet,” said Van Grondelle from the team van on the way home. “It’s crazy. Disbelief.”
The grueling weekend of six intense, pressure-packed matches had Tsurumi already asleep shortly after leaving Charleston. But it wasn’t just a dream when Tsurumi was awakened by Van Grondelle.
“It was really nerve-racking,” Tsurumi said. “It was great. I had a really good time playing with her this season. It was the best.”
Van Grondelle and Tsurumi finished 45-3 and became the sixth doubles team from Palatine to win a state title. The last was Anne Mekel and Jeanne Smith in 1992.
“They’re such strong players and great competitors with such a love for the sport,” West said. “Tomoyo really respects the way Maggie plays and to have the opportunity to play with her this year, who wouldn’t want to.
“It was an easy fit and they had a great time this year.”
Everything seemed to gell at the Prospect Invitational in April when they beat New Trier’s Mari Georgiadis and Dora Saclarides, who finished third last year. The Palatine duo’s only losses were to Buffalo Grove’s Nell Boyd and Michelle Byjos, who finished fifth, and twice to Fremd’s Angela Wu and Annie Huang.
Their last loss came to Wu and Huang in the semifinals of the Mid-Suburban League tourney. But they learned from their third-place finish to win the sectional and win all of their matches in Charleston in two sets.
“We started talking more and it really helped us at state,” Tsurumi said.
Especially against a Willowbrook duo they had beaten during the regular season.
Unfortunately for Van Grondelle, she may be looking for another new doubles partner next year as Tsurumi’s family is planning to move to California at the end of the school year.
“I thought we might have a chance to win and we did,” Tsurumi. “It was crazy. It was fun.”
Said Van Grondelle: “It was awesome. It was a really fun season, not just with Tomoyo but the whole team.
“I kept reminding her on the court that this is fun. Don’t forget to smile.”
Boyd and Byjos came in as the top seed but suffered their first loss of the year in the quarterfinals to 9-12 seed Melissa Carrington and Theresa Lacek of Reavis 21-12, 14-21, 21-18.
The seniors rebounded to win three consolation bracket matches and finish fifth with a 21-14, 21-9 victory over Stevenson’s Taylor Seplowin and Emily Cai. Boyd and Byjos finished fourth last year.
“We didn’t exactly play our game in the first match of the day,” Byjos said, “but after we lost we knew we had to keep going and we couldn’t really take it back.
“We tried to hope for the best and ended the year getting fifth so I’m still happy.”
Byjos and Boyd appeared to recover from a shaky start to force a third set in the quarterfinals. They finished the season at 37-1.
“There was so much pressure as the ones with the targets on our back from the start,” Boyd said. “It got really tough, they were playing very good and we got a little nervous.
“We still played all right but not good enough to win. It hurt, but like Michelle said after we lost, we had to finish strong and finish with a win.”
Fremd freshman Angela Wu was knocked out of the championship bracket with a 21-17, 19-21, 21-18 quarterfinal loss to 5-8 seed Jessica Glennon of Lincoln-Way Central. The fourth-seeded Wu was eliminated with a 21-15, 21-18 consolation quarterfinal loss to Sandburg’s Kara Kentner.
Prospect’s doubles team of junior Shea Gallus and freshman Noreen Caporusso was eliminated in a fifth-round consolation match loss. They lost 21-16, 18-21, 21-19 to 13-16 seeds Anjali Pal-Brittany DeClouette of Hinsdale South.
Georgiadis won the singles title 21-15, 21-5 over Loran Pasko of Thornton Fractional South.
Sandburg won its first team title and state trophy with 14.5 points. TF South was second and defending champion New Trier finished third.