Girls tennis: Stevenson satisified with second in NSC tournament
Stevenson girls tennis coach Angela Muresan knew coming into her first season that there was a bull's-eye on their backs after the program won a share of its first state title last fall.
"We have a strong tradition of being very competitive and we don't see that stopping this year," said Muresan, who took over for Tom Stanhope.
"It should be a fun season of ups and downs as we navigate the bull's-eye on our back. We will attempt to enjoy the journey and pressure of being the defending state champs."
Well, the Patriots are heading in that direction all right, as evidenced by a nice tune up over the weekend where they finished second in the North Suburban Conference meet, hosted by Zion-Benton at four locations.
"I thought the girls played hard and put everything out there (Friday). I think everyone could go home satisfied that they gave their all," said Muresan, a former Stevenson standout tennis player herself.
Lake Forest and Stevenson have been neck-and-neck in the North Suburban this fall, with the Scouts winning a key dual match last week.
And over the weekend, the Scouts held off the Pats to win the conference tourney and upend the defending conference champs. Next weekend Stevenson hosts its sectional where the Pats will face several of the same conference teams.
"We are looking forward to sectionals and seeing how we can perform there. The girls are ready and excited," added Muresan.
The Scouts finished with 35 tournament points, 4 ahead of Stevenson (31). Libertyville finished third (12), followed by Mundelein (9), Warren (8), and Lake Zurich (7).
In No. 1 singles, top-seeded Kiley Rabjohns defeated third seed Ellen Ma of Stevenson in a grueling 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 6-4 victory. Lake Zurich's fourth-seeded Sophia Delos Reyes won by injury default over Libertyville's Lily VanDixhorn for third place.
At No. 2, second-seeded Amanda Black of Libertyville won a conference title after beating top-seeded Cody Avis of Lake Forest 6-1, 7-6 (7-4). Third-seeded Maggie Gong of Stevenson took third after outlasting Mundelein's Kylie Brua 6-1, 6-3.
Top seed Alex Slomba of Lake Forest won the title at No. 3 singles after beating Stevenson's Thea Surya 6-2, 6-2. Third-seeded Katherine Thomey of Libertyville took third after defeating Warren's Rachel Shugarts 6-2, 6-4.
In doubles action, the Pats' top-seeded sister duo of Alaina and Athena Kolli cruised to a conference championship after upending the second-seeded Mundelein duo of Isabel Alviar and Mikayla Edquiban 6-0, 6-3.
At No. 2 doubles, Stevenson's top-seeded tandem of Alyssa Glaser and Elizabeth Ferdman outlasted Lake Forest's Nika Belova/Olivia Wheldon 7-5, 7-6 (5) for the title.
Lake Forest then picked up another conference title at No. 3 doubles after the duo of Clara and Lili Goshgarian defeated Stevenson's Abby Schueneman/
Sneha Yellapantula 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (3).
The Scouts also won the title at No. 4 doubles when Anisha Paruchuru and Grace Gescheidle defeated Stevenson's Emily Hu/Alexis Lee 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-5. Libertyville's Kathleen Lee and Brook Bair beat Warren sophomores Jenna Bjorseth and Sohini Dash 6-0, 6-1 for third.
"I thought we played well considering we had some very tough first round matches," said Warren coach Vince DeSecki, whose girls compete in the Stevenson sectional next weekend.
"We're really looking forward to sectionals. It will be a challenge to qualify anyone given how competitive the Stevenson sectional is. But we'll do our best and see what happens."