St. Viator's perfect day helps girls tennis team claim Cougar Classic quad
With temperatures on the tennis court at 110 degrees and a heat index of 103, the heat was on Saturday afternoon at the Cougar Classic quad in Vernon Hills.
It took winning a couple of tiebreaker matches over the host Cougars to get the job done, but it was St. Viator that would walk away with a perfect 3-0 record Saturday to win the quad over Carmel Catholic with a 2-1 record on the day.
St. Viator (5-3) opened the long day of competition with a 5-0 shutout over Hoffman Estates before topping the Corsairs 4-1 in the second round.
The Lions beat Vernon Hills (3-2-1) 3-2 in the final round while Carmel defeated the young Hawks squad 5-0. The Cougars posted a 4-1 victory over Hoffman Estates in round two while the Corsairs opened the day with a 4-1 win over Vernon Hills.
St. Viator junior Maya Nowicki went 2-0 for the Lions in No. 1 singles play while teammate Meredith Garcia rolled to a 6-0, 6-1 victory in her No. 1 singles match against the Hawks.
"I think this is one of the strongest teams St. Viator has had in the last 10 years," St. Viator coach M.L. Blaney said. "I think they're looking really good, it's early in the season, and we have some sophomores and juniors on the team so that is really good."
St. Viator's No. 1 doubles team of Nowicki and Ally Jodion won 6-0, 6-2 against Carmel while Garcia and Jodion won 6-1, 7-5 over the Hawks.
Hoffman Estates junior Ivana Stefanova won all 12 games in her No. 1 singles match against the Cougars while Carmel's Olivia Thomas won a third-set, tiebreaker (15-13) over St. Viator's Katie Trunda at No. 2 singles.
"These were some very hot conditions for tennis today," Carmel coach Chris Kannenberg said. "They're getting better every day, I'm very confident in this team, and we have a tough conference with St. Viator in it."
Carmel's Alex Monroe added a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles against the Cougars while Vernon Hills' No. 1 doubles team of Shriya Avula and Ritika Dashputra captured a 7-5, 4-6, 10-2 tiebreaker win over the Lions.
"I feel pretty confident about my No. 1 doubles, and they are returning experienced players," Vernon Hills coach Doug Gerber said. "They're working hard and as the season moves along we're going to be stronger."
The Hawks' young team will be going through some growing pains with only one experienced senior (Niko Otsuka) on the team.
"Ivana (Stefanova) didn't play last year and she was our No. 1 singles player her freshman year," Hoffman Estates coach Kenneth Harris said. "They're young so I look at this season as a learning experience and the Mid-Suburban League is pretty tough."