Maltby has the award to prove it pays to be nice

The less Meredith Maltby uses her mouth on the tennis court, the more energy she diverts to her two-fisted backhand.

“There’s some people who start arguments and yell. I guess I just try to be nice,” said Maltby, a Glenbard West senior who, as correspondent Neil Shalin noted last week, was named the female winner of the Tom Pitchford Sportsmanship Award at the girls state tennis finals at Prospect.

“I try to be nice to the other people I play,” said Maltby, a 5-foot-3 right-hander headed to play at Tulane on scholarship.

Glenbard West coach Jim Valleskey picked up on her persona years ago. In his letter nominating Maltby for the Pitchford Award, he noted Maltby’s love for the game, hitting the ball with her father when she was “no bigger than her racket ... Years later I still see the great relationship with her family and her love for the game.”

Tennis has loved her right back. Installed at No. 1 singles for the Hilltoppers each of her four seasons, Maltby won sectional titles her sophomore, junior and senior seasons and the West Suburban Conference first singles title as a junior.

At Prospect, Maltby won her first two matches then drew eventual state singles champion Jerricka Boone of Morgan Park. Inclement weather eliminated the back draw, so Maltby finished among the state’s top 32. In 2010 with the back draw, she placed between 24-32.

“We had a good match, though,” Maltby said of competing against Boone. “I’m proud of myself.”

She should be.

In addition to USA Tennis’ ranking her 17th in the Midwest in Girls 18s, the Tennis Recruiting Network ranks Maltby third in Illinois and seventh in the Great Lakes region in the class of 2012. She hones her game year-round at the Oak Brook Racquet & Fitness Club.

Eventually, though, no one will care about her tennis rankings. Maltby’s attitude and work ethic, whether on the court as a mentor to younger players or in school, where she carries a 4.7 grade-point average, will be there for life.

“When you watch Meredith on the court you never know if she is winning or losing,” Valleskey wrote in his Pitchford Award nomination.

“She is a fair and generous competitor who never seems to have issues with her opponents. She is gracious in defeat and doesn’t make external excuses for poor play.”

Maltby told Tulane coach Terri Sisk about the award and naturally the coach was glad to hear that.

“It’s a nice thing to have,” Maltby said. “Being a senior, it’s kind of like a last run. It’s an honor.”

New digs

For the first time since 2000, the boys state soccer championships will not be held at North Central College.

The Class 1A championship matches were held at the Corn Crib in Normal, a relatively new facility with a turf field popular not just for soccer but other sports as well.

This weekend’s 2A and 3A matches will be held at Lincoln-Way North in Frankfort.

There’s no sub-Interstate 80 conspiracy working here.

According to Beth Sauser, the Illinois High School Association assistant executive director in charge of boys and girls soccer (the girls will continue at North Central College), the venue change was a matter of timing on a couple fronts.

State hosting assignments run on five-year schedules. North Central College, which took over in 2001 from Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, did not apply for a third term after its contract expired last fall. Scheduling both college football and two sessions of soccer was too much, Sauser said.

“It was a strain on their facilities as far as their personnel working,” she said. “And just the risk if the first session of soccer went to overtime it would push back football, or if the first session went into overtime it would push back the second session, or if we have a weather delay. It was just a big concern especially on the two-class sessions.”

Meanwhile, back at Glenbard West

Glenbard West senior Kyle Kochevar has been named a Rolex Junior All-America by the America Junior Golf Association. He’ll be honored at a banquet on Nov. 20 at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Kochevar, who will sign his National Letter of Intent to Virginia next week, did not play for the Hilltoppers this fall as he had his first three years of high school.

After a hardy schedule of tournaments that saw him travel to Georgia, Oregon, North Carolina, California, Michigan and even England, he stayed that course.

“This year was different because I boosted my rankings so much that my tournaments were invitationals, so I got invited to those and I decided to play those,” Kochevar said.

He started playing golf at age 4 and playing in national tournaments at 6. His father, Dan, a PGA Tour swing instructor at Oak Brook Golf Club, got him involved.

Ranked 35th in the Polo Golf Rankings that determine All-America status — he’s an honorable-mention selection — Kochevar finished in a tie for second in the Rolex Tournament of Champions in Oregon in June. This fall he traveled to Florida, South Carolina and Oklahoma, where the Ping Invitational in Stillwater was his most recent tourney.

“I’ve been working on new stuff this past fall,” said the plus-1 handicapper. “It’s been kind of difficult, but I’ve stuck in there and played.”

Kochevar said he enjoyed playing for Glenbard West, but with Virginia coming up and the goal of being a touring pro in the future, he sought to heighten not just the level of competition but the difficulty of the courses he played.

“I’ve got to be ready for those,” he said.

“I had a lot of fun with (prep golf),” he said, “but I had to make a decision.”

doberhelman@dailyherald.com