Jacobs sectional champ again

Jacobs' girls tennis coach Jon Betts may have had the easiest job in the world on Saturday.

The Golden Eagles dominated both the singles and doubles courts for the championship matches at the Larkin sectional. With their fifth-straight sectional locked up and all players qualifying for state, Betts just sat back and enjoyed the moment.

"We're thrilled," Betts said. "We knew we had some great players returning and had a shot of repeating this year. I was really proud of how we did."

In a rematch of last year's sectional championship match, Jacobs' No. 1 Anne Smith (28-4) defeated junior teammate Jen Ruther (29-3) 6-1, 6-3. The victory gave Smith her third sectional title in as many years, with Ruther marking her second trip to the IHSA state meet.

With both Jacobs' doubles teams battling for a sectional crown in the court next to Smith and Ruther, it resembled a Golden Eagles practice more than a sectional.

"We looked over and said, 'Hey, this is like a practice,' " Smith said. "(But) when you get out there everyone wants to win."

Where the singles was a rematch, only Marlene Aleksiejczyk had played at this level for Jacobs' doubles competitors. Aleksiejczyk's experience -- she won the doubles as a junior last season with Melissa Kaufman -- proved valuable as the senior repeated as a champion with Kelley Lippner, defeating Jacobs' No. 1 doubles squad of Heather Graham and Kellie Stoka 6-5, 6-2. Graham and Stoka (20-13) did mark the first trip to state with their second-place finish.

Smith defeated Dundee-Crown's Stephanie Zundl 6-0, 6-0 and Ruther beat Elgin Academy's Bethany Boyle 7-6, 6-4 to set up a second rematch for third place. Ruther and Boyle (18-6) squared off for the second straight season in the sectional. Boyle finished third for the fourth time in a row when she defeated Zundl 6-0, 6-1.

Girls tennis

Cary-Grove sectional: Prairie Ridge's girls tennis team came into the IHSA Cary-Grove sectional Saturday as heavy favorites to win the title. The pressures of being a favorite had no impact on the PR players as the Wolves (34 points) grabbed their third sectional title in four years.

Freshman Allison Murphy (30-6) did her part by taking first place in singles play, outlasting Nelle Youel of Crystal Lake Central 7-5, 6-0. Trailing Youel 5-4 in the first set, Murphy stormed back and won the next 10 straight games.

"I just started attacking her weaknesses and getting her down," Murphy said. "Then I had to make perfect shots when I had them and I did. This has been a long season playing everyday and it can get tiring but it's a lot of fun especially playing with the team we have."

Singles teammate Carolyn Huerth (29-1) lost to Youel in 3 sets in the semifinal round but rebounded to take third place as she defeated Kristin Gobberg of Marian Central 6-4, 6-3.

Wolves' doubles teammates Julie and Jackie Schwartz (31-0) were forced to face-off against teammates Emily Murphy and Laura Curran (30-1) in the championship match. After a long semifinal match for Curran and Murphy, little was left in the tank as the Schwartz sisters took the match 6-0, 6-1 for the first place finish.

Finishing behind Marian Central (18 points) and Crystal Lake Central (17 points) was Crystal Lake South. The Gators finished with 10 points overall and have doubles teammates Jennifer Maruyama and Laura Roesslein heading to state thanks to their fourth-place finish.

-- Brian Reyes

Boys soccer

Westminster Christian 4, St. Edward 1: Going into Saturday's Class A Hampshire boys soccer sectional, some would say that Westminster Christian had a bit of an edge having beaten No. 11 seed St. Edward twice during the regular season, not to mention that home field advantage is always a bonus.

Westminster Christian disagreed, which is why the Warriors refused to take the Green Wave lightly as the two met for the third time, this time to advance into the second round of the postseason.

In fact, nothing was going to slow the Warriors down, not even the loss of leading scorer Tyler Beachler early in the second half to injury.

Westminster (11-9-3) came out of the gates strong taking a 2-0 first half lead, and never let up earning a 4-1 victory when all was said and done as well as a trip to the sectional semifinals, where the Warriors will take on Keith Country Day at 5 p.m. Tuesday in Rockford.

It was Beachler who would put Westminster Christian on the board, connecting on a 50-50 dish from his brother Ryan within the first 15 minutes of play.

Shortly after, Ryan Beachler would record his second assist of the game finding Cory Hodge, who fired one past St. Edward goalkeeper Will Lytle (15 saves).

"Getting an early lead was big because we have been talking all season about building momentum early," said Hodge. "We had started a bit slower than we wanted to, but with the goals we were able to pick it up."

St. Edward (3-19) didn't let up, creating several opportunities, many of which were stifled by sweeper Dan Graves, whose defensive efforts stopped numerous chances.

Still, the Green Wave continued to push.

Coming out strong in the second half, St. Edward's Clayton Pfeiffer drove the opening kick downfield for a shot but couldn't get it past Warrior goalkeeper Ethan Flickinger.

Minutes later, Tyler Beachler would have to leave the game injuring his ankle following a tough tackle. According to Warrior coach Josh Guge, he will need an X-ray. Five minutes after that, his replacement, J.J. Marshall would also come out of the game with a shoulder injury.

"We hope everybody is OK," said St. Edward coach Tim Brieger. "We were all over the place, but that is how you have to play a tough team like Westminster."

In fact, Brieger referred to his team's second half efforts as controlled chaos. Unwilling to quit, the Green Wave continued to fight hard, resulting in a Pfeiffer goal which cut the lead in half. David Smith found Pfeiffer open in front of the net, and Pfeiffer pushed the pass off his head and over the head of Flickinger (9 saves) to make it 2-1.

-- Jen LaPorte

Chicago Taft 2, Burlington Central 0: Burlington Central (11-8-3) couldn't find the back of the net and lost in the opening round of the Class AA Conant regional.

Kyle DeRaedt made 15 saves in goal for the Rockets.

Men's soccer

Judson 3, Bethel 1: In a nonconference match in Indiana, the Judson University men's soccer team (11-3-2) continued its unbeaten streak of eight games with a win over Bethel College.

Vitor Bravo, Gustavo Oliveira and Petar Bajic scored for Judson.

Women's volleyball

Judson loses 2: Hosting a tri-meet between Cornerstone University (31-3) and Mt. Mercy College (7-17), the Judson University volleyball team (10-17) fell to both teams. Mount Mercy defeated the Eagles 30-16, 30-17, 30-16 and Cornerstone downed Judson 30-13, 30-22, 30-20. Senior Kym Gagnon led JU with 13 kills while Carly Campioni had 31 assists. Both Rachel Pope and Gagnon recorded 11 digs against Mount Mercy. Sophomore Danielle Dull had 7 kills to lead JU against Cornerstone with Campioni recording 23 assists. Pope added 14 digs.