Girls tennis: Stevenson duos dominate en route to state quarterfinals

Stevenson girls tennis coach Izzy Balase had no idea what his top doubles team, Emma Blass/Ana Sukovic, had for breakfast Thursday morning.

But he loved what they served up in 3 matches at the Class 3A state tournament in chilly conditions.

“Six bagels,” he said, referring to his pair’s trio of 6-0, 6-0 decisions to secure a spot in Friday’s state quarterfinals at Hersey as a 3-4 seed.

“That’s not easy to do against the cream of the crop,” he added.

The Patriots’ other doubles team, 5-8 seed Klaudia Jaworski/Emma Iwanowski, also “loxed” up a quarterfinal appearance after netting three straight-set victories.

Stevenson’s Kriti Mohan and Kylie Bass combined for 5 singles wins. The unseeded Mohan took the first set off top-seeded Helena Klooster of Marist before bowing 1-6, 6-2 (10-4 super tiebreaker) in a second-round match.

Stevenson (20 points) sits in a tie for second place with Hinsdale Central behind New Trier (22) after day one of the three-day meet.

Conant, which placed a program-best seventh at last fall’s state meet, is in fourth with 17 points. Nidhi Karekar/Advita Deepak, seeded 5-8, paced coach Matt Marks’ squad by reaching a quarterfinal. The Cougars’ singles ace, junior and three-time state qualifier Khrystyna Pivtorak, shrugged off not receiving a seed and defeated 5-8 seed Elizabeth Boege of Glenbrook North 7-6 (1), 6-4 in the second round.

Pivtorak then lost a Round of 16 match.

“Khrystyna’s experience at state helped,” Marks said of the match vs. Boege, who topped Pivtorak at an invite this fall. “She played composed tennis and used her forehand to dictate the points.”

Conant’s Elyssa Rojas (3-1 in singles) and Noelle Koh/Thea Krachmarov (3-1 in doubles) made it to Friday and will vie for team points in the back draw.

Barrington (7th place, 13 points) received strong showings from singles players and 9-16 seeds Enya Neagu and Shriya Ramesh. Neagu skipped to a 6-0, 6-1 triumph to reach a quarterfinal, while Ramesh fell one match shy of a Final 8 berth, falling 6-2, 6-1 to 3-4 seed Lucy Stein of Oak Park-River Forest.

“I played pretty solid tennis in my first two rounds, though it was definitely hard getting used to the cold weather,” said Ramesh, who had lost twice to Stein in the regular season. “I plan to play with the same intensity (Friday) and hope to do some damage in the back draw.”

Barrington coach Mike Byrd, who guided the Fillies to 12th at state last year, doesn’t mind losses to humans.

“You can’t lose to fear,” he said. “You have to play your game and go for shots, no matter who is on the other side of the net. Our girls have done a good job of playing without fear.”

Byrd's state-meet girls had tallied more points by Thursday afternoon than the state team had in three days last autumn.

Rolling Meadows sophomore Maddie Hrtanek went 2-2 on the Mustangs’ home courts Thursday, rebounding nicely after a tough first-round loss to post two consolation-round wins. Hinsdale Central’s Julianna Radonjic edged Hrtanek 5-7, 7-5 (10-8) in Round 1.

“I kept playing my style of tennis in the back draw,” Hrtanek said, adding she had enhanced her game this season by adding backhand drop shots and slices.

An injury forced Libertyville junior and 5-8 singles seed Yuki Dogadalski to default before the start of the state meet. She and her older sister, Lena Dogadalski (Class of 2025), finished third in doubles at state last fall.

Class 1A: Vernon Hills’ Paulina Masherava and Kamila Tymarskis played singles at state this year.

They approached Cougars coach Doug Gerber with a proposal this fall: “We want to play doubles together.”

The top-seeded doubles team at Thursday’s Class 1A girls tennis tournament?

Masherava/Tymarskis.

But “top-seeded” is only one way to describe the duo.

“They’re the two best tennis players in our program’s 25-year history,” Gerber said after they won 3 easy doubles matches to reach a Friday quarterfinal at Buffalo Grove. “After they asked me, I told them, ‘You can’t be strong singles players as a doubles team. You have to compete as a doubles team.’”

They’re doing just that.

“They’re getting to the net and finishing points,” said Gerber. “Sometimes it’s as quick as a serve, a volley and a put-away volley.”

VH’s Emma Jazbutis and Isabella Ugolkov each won 2 singles matches Thursday.

VH (12 points) was in a tie for fifth place after Thursday’s action. Deerfield was leading the field with 22 points.