Girls tennis: Lake Park wins Glenbard East crown
It was a good view from the top for two DuPage Valley Conference girls tennis teams and an Upstate Eight Conference squad at Saturday's Glenbard East Ram Invitational in Lombard.
Lake Park won the six-team meet with 24 points, the host Rams were second at 22 and Glenbard North was third with 20.
The Lancers won the championships at No. 3 singles along with No. 1 and No. 2 doubles.
"Our first and second doubles have been pretty much perfect all season. Our No. 3 singles player was cleared today to play after getting a concussion. The team pretty much all medaled. It's the first time in the seven years I have been coach that we won this tournament," said Lake Park coach Ben Hussey.
Juniors Nina Pasquini and Maeve Casey won the No. 1 doubles final 6-1, 6-0.
"We were super aggressive. We got to the net and played our game," Casey said.
"Our volleys were good and we were good in the tough moments," Pasquini said.
The second-doubles title for the Lancers came courtesy of Nancy Cozzi and Alexis Belmonte, who won 6-0, 6-2. The doubles pair and Pasquini are returning state qualifiers.
Lake Park's lone singles title came at No. 3 thanks to senior Lindsey Zastawny. She cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 win.
"I felt good. I hit the ball consistently and I hit where I wanted," she said.
Glenbard North's No. 3 doubles team of senior Kelly Boland and sophomore Cynthia Nguyen have been playing just for a week but went home Saturday with a championship title thanks to a 5-7, 6-4 (10-7) win.
"We communicated well together. We clicked today," Boland said.
It's Nguyen's first season on varsity and both said Saturday's victory is a confidence booster.
"We got this and we know we can win," Boland said.
It was a successful day for Glenbard East as it reached the finals at No. 3 singles and all three doubles brackets. Freshman Amber Province was called up to the varsity from JV for Saturday's competition. She won her first two matches of the day, which put her in the final, in straight sets.
"She matched up really well against her first two opponents. I was glad to see her hard work over the summer pay off on varsity," said Rams coach Bill Burt.
Reaching the doubles finals for Glenbard East were Annie Carini and Grace Larkin at No. 1, Iman Sakrani and Ashley Ziemer at No. 2 and Emma Martin and Janae McElroy at No. 3.
"I'm really happy. We showed some resiliency in some tough matches," Burt said.
Rams senior Kolie Allen, who has given an verbal commitment to play at Ohio State next year, was visiting the Columbus, Ohio, campus on Saturday.
"It's an awesome fit for her. She gets to continue to play, with a Big Ten team and gets the education that she has dreamed of," Burt said.
Elk Grove finished fourth as a team with 17 points and went home with two singles titles. Junior Jovana Vujanic won 7-5, 6-1 at No. 1. The returning state qualifier has had some tough matches this season, including a three-set loss to Evanston's Anastasia Goncharova, who finished second in state in 2016.
Lake Park's Analisa Cruz and Vujanic exchanged powerful forehands and backhands for most of their battle.
"My serving's a lot better (than last season) and I've been working on not choking and getting so tight," she said. "During the second set I was hitting with more power and getting more clean shots."
Teammate Lauren Oda has just one loss on the season and saw nothing but wins Saturday. She won the No. 2 singles final in straight sets 6-0, 6-0.
"In the finals my serves felt more comfortable throughout the match," she said.