Perfect day for N. Stars

There was much for St. Charles North and Geneva to cheer about on a day of wins and wind at the girls state tennis tournament.

The North Stars were a perfect 6-0 during their day one sweep, as Annemijn Koenen, as well as the doubles team of Megan Gow and Liselot Koenen became the first players in the program's history to advance to the field of 16 in the winner's bracket.

Gow, a senior making her fourth trip to state, was a still a bundle of energy after she and Liselot Koenen completed their 3-0 day.

"This is just amazing, it's all I could want my senior year," Gow said.

The duo won each of its matches in straight sets.

"The wind was a big factor today," Liselot Koenen said. "We were confident, and we went out there and had fun."

Annemijn Koenen began her day with a quick win, but things got tougher from there.

"There are no easy wins at state," St. Charles North coach Tim Matacio said.

Koenen had to scrap to take her next two.

The Vikings matched the North Stars' 12 points, thanks in large part to Kayla Fujimoto's powerful performance that saw the sophomore lose just two games as she swept three matches in quick succession.

"Kayla is an extremely determined player, and she got back on track," Geneva coach Maureen Weiler said. "It was good to see Kayla and both doubles teams get those first wins pretty easily."

Weiler expected Fujimoto to come out charging, and she didn't disappoint as her opening round win was one of the first in the books.

Blair Selakovich and Mary Pelling got off to a fast start, then turned in an even more impressive effort in round two.

"We were able to execute the points at the net, and put the ball away," Pelling said.

The Viking duo could not overcome third seeded Cali Gustafson and Julia Fllerhoof of Deerfield in the third round, but they'll be back at it Friday morning.

"We knew going in that was going to be a really hard match," Selakovich said.

Liz Bertrand and Krista Panko breezed through their opening round match against Lindsay Polke and Jordan Halata of Lockport, 6-0, 6-0, giving the Vikings a couple of valuable points, but dropped their next two matches.

West Aurora's Shannon Brooks and Lauren Henry also made it to field of 16, but they got there the hard way.

After cruising through the opening round, the Blackhawk duo made a habit of dropping the first set before rallying to take the next two. The results were a pair of long but successful efforts.

Teammate Brooke Henry also dug a hole for herself, losing her opening round match to 17-32 seeded Annie Smith of Jacobs, before coming back to win her next three.

"I didn't play up to my ability in that match, but I got better as the day went on," Henry said.

St. Charles East started the day on a winning note as Stefanie Youngberg and the doubles team of Amanda Gomez and Erin Bowman each won their opening round matches.

Gomez and Bowman picked up a win in round two of the consolation bracket before ending their postseason with a three-set loss in their fourth match.

Batavia put a couple of wins in the books as Alexa Schofield and Kim Sawyer began their day with a straight-set shutout of Ottawa's Krista Evensen and Kylie Wielgopolan.

"We did everything right in that match," Schofield said.

The Bulldogs added a three-set win over Heather Graham and Kellie Stoka of Jacobs before bowing out of the tournament.

"Keeping our momentum was important after we won the second set," Sawyer said.

Rosary's Emily Reuland earned the chance to play another day as she survived a brutal opening round match against Whitney Young's Gabrielle Moore, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6, then had a much easier time of it in round two, before dropping her third and final match of the day.