Mehr, South Elgin sweep Maroons

Lauren Mehr was counting down the points in her head.

"Just 3 more, just 2 more, I kept telling myself," she said. "It helped me focus on that specific point."

When Clair Hernon's final shot sailed wide and there were no more points, Mehr had hung on for a grueling 7-6, 6-4 victory at first singles that completed South Elgin's 7-0 sweep of Elgin in Upstate Eight action in Elgin.

Hernon usually plays first doubles for the Maroons, but moved to first singles when her doubles partner, Carleen Krieg, was absent. Elgin, with just 3 seniors on the squad, had to shuffle its entire lineup and the Storm was able to take advantage.

Kristen Gianaris downed Angel Certeza in second singles, 6-1, 6-1, and Michelle Nee defeated Allison Harris at third singles, 6-3, 6-1.

In contrast to the Maroons, the Storm fielded a veteran lineup.

"We're just having an amazing season," said South Elgin coach Melissa Tuftedal. "But we didn't know what to expect with Elgin. We did a good job of reading the opposition and coming up with the wins."

The Storm's top doubles team of Lauren Ferry and Dana Hildebrandt cruised, 6-0, 6-0. Brittany Boelter and Nessa Saeng were nearly as impressive in a 6-1, 6-0 win for South Elgin (4-3). Megan Diede and Brittany Quindel won 6-2, 6-2, while Nicole DeSmidt and Lauren Andres were 6-0, 6-2 winners at No. 4 doubles.

"I'm not very concerned with the scores at this point," said Elgin coach Jan LaBar, talking about her young team. "It's just not pretty sometimes, but that's the way it is."

Hernon was a bright spot for the Maroons, gutting it out through the match that featured several long rallies. She broke Mehr to go down 5-4 in the second set, but couldn't hold serve to tie things up. Using a sharp serve and strong play at the net, Mehr wore her down.

"Whenever she came to the net, I tried to aim a short crosscourt or hit it right down the line," said Mehr.

"And it helped that her serve was on fire," added Tuftedal.