Girls tennis: Stevenson positioned for trophy finish
Stevenson's top-seeded doubles team of Zoe Taylor and Kaylin Dong suffered an upset loss on Day 2 of the girls tennis state tournament Friday morning, but the Patriots still find themselves in position to win a state trophy at Buffalo Grove on Saturday.
Hinsdale Central has a commanding lead in the team standings with 44 points, with Stevenson and Lyons Township tied for second with 33 points - well ahead of fourth-place New Trier (22).
Lyons' Megan Hickey/Stefana Vasic, a 9-16 seed, outlasted Taylor/Dong 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in the fourth round of the championship bracket.
Stevenson's Vinaya Rao and Katherine Harvey (the No. 2 seed) won their fourth-round match, 6-3, 6-4 over Highland Park's Casey Frommer/Lizzie Raab and went on to earn a spot in the semis by topping Anjelica Emmanouil and Madison Jurcenko of Kaneland 6-1, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.
Rao/Harvey meet Hinsdale Central's Rugile Valiunatie/Sandra Keta as the tournament resumes at 9 a.m. Saturday.
In singles, Stevenson's Kendall Kirsch defeated Warren's Alex Mella 6-1, 6-3 in their fourth-round match. Warren's Karyna Bihel captured a 7-5, 6-0 decision over Hinsdale Central's Sophia Haleas in the fourth round.
Bihel fell out of the championship draw with a 6-3, 6-4 quarterfinal loss to Lyons' Meg Kowalski. Kirsch also lost in the quarterfinals, to defending champion Tiffany Chen of Naperville Central 7-6 (8-6), 6-2.
No. 2 seed Brienne Minor of Carmel will play in the singles semifinals after wins over Nicole Roc (Northside), 6-1, 6-3 and Asuka Kawai (Palatine) 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.
Grant sophomore Gaby Schoenberg continued to impress, winning her fourth- and fifth-round consolation bracket matches Friday, while the season of Stevenson's Zoe Manion ended with a fifth-round consolation-bracket loss.
Taylor/Dong bounced back in the consolation bracket, defeating Guilford's Lilly Endsley/Linnea Endsley 6-2, 6-1 and Normal Community's Abby Kosharek/Katie Toohill 6-2, 6-1.
Libertyville's Danielle Blaser/Callie Klein picked up a pair of consolation-bracket wins Friday.