Girls tennis: Palatine's Kawai grabs third-place finish
Hinsdale Central, for the ninth time in 10 years, won an IHSA team title in girls tennis on Saturday, finishing with 29 points at Buffalo Grove.
This one, though, is a little different, as it's the first Class 2A title in state history. Lyons Township and Stevenson followed with 25 points for a runner-up tie in 2A, while Benet Academy earned the first Class 1A state crown.
This is the third year in a row Stevenson has been a runner-up, and this year it was with plenty of new faces, the exceptions being half of the No. 2 doubles team and no. 1 singles player Dhwani Kumar.
"All of the girls outdid their seeds," said Stevenson coach Tom Stanhope. "The question is, how do you respond after you've lost? Everyone's going to get into the backdraw at some point, and you have to play your best."
All eyes were on the 2A singles final between Lyons Township's Lahari Yelamanchili and Evanston's Anastasia Goncharova after both upset their opponents in the semifinals to get to the title match. The match lasted three and a half of hours and the two traded numerous leads, with their fans in an uproar the entire match.
In the third set, they battled in a tiebreaker. Yelamanchili jumped to a 4-0 lead, but Goncharova was unrelenting as she scored four straight points to tie 4-4.
After a tough and arduous battle, Yelamanchili narrowly edged out the Goncharova in dramatic fashion 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7-6).
"I just tried to focus, stay calm and play my best," Yelamanchili said after she was mobbed by the Lyons Township faithful. "I thought if she can get back (in the second set), so can I. I thought that I wanted to win this more."
Hinsdale Central's Erika Oku/Megan Guenther defeated the sister tandem of Colette and Catherine O'Regan from Glenbrook North 6-2, 6-2 for the 2A doubles titles. It's the second consecutive season the Red Devils won doubles.
Palatine senior Asuka Kawai faltered in her early semifinal against Goncharova, falling 6-4, 6-3. The two had met earlier in the season, and Kawai won that time 6-7 (7-4), 6-4, 7-5.
"I wasn't playing well," Kawai said. "We all knew. (Goncharova) was really good about hitting against my weaknesses. Even though I lost, it was still an amazing match."
But there was one more victory left for Kawai, who faced the tournament's top seed, Niles North's Michelle Bacalla, in the third-place match.
In a meeting earlier in the season, Kawai dropped a 6-7 (7-4), 6-4, 10-8 loss to Bacalla.
In the first set, the Palatine and Niles North standouts were tied at 2-2. After trading nine deuces in that specific game, Kawai edged out Bacalla, bettering her 3-2 and setting the tone for the remainder of the first set. Kawai won the first set 6-3.
Though down, Bacalla was not out, bouncing back to win the second set 6-3.
When Kawai and Bacalla rose for the final set, the future Illini player was on a mission. Kawai shut out Bacalla 6-0 and, for a second consecutive season, finish third in the state.
"There were a lot of deuces, and I lost a couple and won a couple," Kawai said. "You have to concentrate really hard and focus. (Bacalla) is really good.
"I'm thankful for my team, and this win was for them. This is a pregame for the college level."
As the only Pirates state qualifier, Kawai was still able to earn 10 points for the team, good for a 10th-place team finish.
"All four girls had a chance to win the title," said Palatine coach Jim Lange of the semifinal qualifiers. "I told (Kawai) in that last set (against Bacalla) to try and center the ball and be loose. At this point of the match, everyone has soreness and it's grueling. I told her you have a lot of time to recover after it's all over, so let it all hang out. (Asuka) is a once-in-a-generation type of player."
In the consolation quarterfinals, Fremd tandem Kate Bodensteiner/Julia Smiarowska bowed out after a close match against the other Hinsdale Central doubles team, Carolyn Ahn/Mira Amin, 7-6 (7-6), 4-6, 12-10.
Senior Jelena Vujanic of Elk Grove tallied a win over Kenwood's Sloane Williams 6-0, 7-5 in the backdraw but faltered in the consolation semifinals against Wheaton Warrenville South's Samantha Choi 6-2, 6-3.