Opening day at state produces several surprises
Jelly Emmanouil had reached her physical and mental end Thursday evening.
"Exhausting, frustrating," the Kaneland senior said after her 10-hour day at Hoffman Estates High School concluded without a resolution on the opening day of the girls state tennis tournament.
"I can't wait to get to bed and rest up."
Emmanouil and partner Madi Jurcenko had their third-round doubles match against Whitney Young teammates Sloane Williams and Kendall Scruggs suspended due to darkness with the Knights' duo up a set but trailing 2-5 in the second set.
The match will resume Friday morning at Rolling Meadows.
Emmanouil and Jurcenko are seeking to extend their season-long winning streak to 32 matches.
The tournament was suspended for over two hours in the morning when the school was placed on lockdown over what was termed "a suspicious package" on Hoffman Estates' running track adjacent to the tennis courts.
"We were in the middle of a match," St. Charles North senior Brittany Rohrson said of the delay. "It kind of stunk we got moved in while playing."
Emmanouil and Jurcenko, who advanced with wins over Crystal Lake Central and downstate Mt. Zion to meet the Dolphins' Chicago and sectional champions, won 4 straight games to reverse a 5-2 deficit in the opening set.
Young forced a tiebreaker, but the Knights capitalized on several unforced Dolphin errors to take the early lead with the 7-2 victory.
"I remember playing the same (school) sophomore year and being down 2-5," said Emmanouil, who was making her third consecutive state appearance with Jurcenko.
"It's nice having a set under our belts going into the second day," Jurcenko said. "We wanted to win three (matches) in a row. That would be top-16, which is all-state."
The seniors' classmate, Sammie Schrepferman, was still alive in singles play after winning her opening two matches at Palatine.
But Schrepferman hit a considerable roadblock with top-eight-seed Asuka Kawai of the host Pirates.
"She was just a better player," Schrepferman said of her third-round loss to Kawai in which she managed only one game. "She definitely could hit a winner from anywhere on the court."
Schrepferman will seek her 30th win in the consolation bracket on Friday.
But it was missioned accomplished for Geneva senior Kirby Einck.
The four-time state qualifier had few issues in three convincing, straight-set victories at Palatine.
The Vikings' standout capped her day with an impressive 6-2, 6-4 victory over higher seed Zoe Manion of Stevenson.
"My goal coming into the tournament was to win three matches in the main draw and get to the main draw on Friday," Einck said. "I have never done that before. I played really well against (Manion). I was able to read the wind better than my opponent."
The Vikings' Grace Krueger was eliminated in singles competition.
St. Charles North doubles mates Lianne Anderson and Emma Spellman met the same fate, as did Rosary partners Megan Conlin and Maddy Duefel.
The North Stars' Rohrsen and partner Morgan Rerko are in the consolation bracket after wins over Lockport, 6-3, 6-4, and Sterling, 6-1, 6-2.