Jacobs, Huntley shine at Elgin sectional
Kayla Garcia was going to need to find some inner toughness on Saturday.
Garcia, the junior No. 1 singles player for Huntley, trailed Jacobs’ Megan Elliott 4-1 in the third set of their championship match at the Elgin sectional.
The two had split the first 2 sets, but Garcia had also lost twice to Elliott this season.
The Red Raiders’ standout showed exactly what she could do.
Garcia rallied back to win the set 6-4 and took home her first sectional championship with the 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory.
“I was really nervous. I’ve played her before in tournaments and she’s always beaten me,” Garcia said of Elliott. “I know her playing style. She comes to the net and I did a lot of lobbing. The wind was in my favor.”
The victory marked not only the first sectional crown for Garcia, but the first for the Red Raiders, whose previous top finish at a sectional had been fourth place.
“That’s mental toughness to be down 4-1 and come back,” Huntley coach Barry Wells said. “This is the best we’ve ever done in a sectional. We’re steadily improving. We’re happy with where the program is heading.”
Huntley (29 points) finished second to Jacobs (41) and qualified Jessica Chalas (4th) and the doubles team of Kelly Frankel and Brooke Romero (3rd).
With its doubles teams finishing first and second, Elliott placing second and a third place showing from Alina Zabolotico, Jacobs was able to take its second-straight sectional championship. This marked the seventh sectional title in the last 8 years for the Golden Eagles.
Marcilyn Rowan and Lauren Steinkamp defeated teammates Kassy Bernardo and Autumn Hackett 6-4, 6-2 for the doubles title. This is the second-straight crown for Rowan and Steinkamp, who also finished second in 2009. Bernardo placed second with a different partner last season and first in 2009.
“(The doubles team) really played a nice match against each other,” Jacobs’ coach Jon Betts said. “All four girls looked really good in that match. To win the sectional is a big honor, but it’s something we have to work really hard for.”
In the third-place singles match, Zabolotico downed Chalas 7-6, 6-4 in the second half of the Huntley/Jacobs finals showdowns. All 4 singles competitors punched their first tickets to state on Saturday.
So did the Elgin Academy doubles team of Jordan Kaufman and Lauren Ficken, the second doubles team in school history to advance to the state meet, the first coming during the 1980s.
The duo fell 6-2, 7-6 to Frankel and Romero in the third-place doubles match.