Batavia eases past St. Charles North for 7th straight
Hannah Potter expected to see a familiar face when she arrived at St. Charles North on Tuesday afternoon.
"I looked for Liselot (Koenen) right away during (the player introductions) but didn't see her," the Batavia senior said. "I wasn't sure what was going on."
The North Stars' top singles player was in her native Holland; therefore, the much- anticipated clash between the schools' girls tennis aces never materialized in the teams' first conference match in the Upstate Eight Conference River.
Potter set the tone right off the bat, breaking the serve of St. Charles North sophomore Faith Oerlerking three straight times to win first singles decisively.
The Bulldogs never relented the rest of the way, dominating the North Stars 6-1 in St. Charles to extend their season-opening winning streak to seven matches.
Batavia is also flawless (3-0) in the league, handing the North Stars (2-1) their first conference defeat.
"Certainly benefited with Koenen not being in the lineup, but I'm happy with the way we played," Batavia coach Brad Nelson said.
Batavia sophomore Miranda Grizaffi remained unbeaten on the season - but it was a struggle for the Bulldogs' second-singles player.
Grizaffi was the bookend match of the windy afternoon, outlasting St. Charles North junior Jessica Szymanski in three sets to improve to 7-0.
Liza Fruendt made it a clean sweep in singles for Batavia; the freshman defeated fellow ninth-grader Kaity Wolfe in straight sets at third singles.
The doubles matches were fiercely contested, and the outcome in the No. 1 showdown needed a rubber set.
St. Charles North upperclassmen Kate Lesswing and Abby Roggeman forced a decisive third set with the Bulldogs' Kaitlin Mills and Jenny Mizikar by rebounding from a 1-6 first-game defeat with a 6-4 triumph in the second set.
But Mills and Mizikar were not to be denied in the third, winning the final five games in convincing fashion to outlast their North Stars' counterparts with another 6-1 victory.
"I think we pumped each other up (in the third set)," said Mills.
"We thought we had it (in straight sets) and we were laid back," Mizikar said.
The junior-freshman tandem reapplied their lessons from the first game.
"We had to put more spin on the ball at times (to combat the wind)," said Mills, a junior.
The Bulldogs' partnerships at second doubles, Tamar Norville and Marguerite Mallory, won their third match with a loss this season; No. 3 partners Hannah Maddox and Brooke LeFevre prevailed in two behind a second-set tiebreaker.
Shannon Barrett and Kelsey Miller averted a whitewash for the hosts; the duo captured an all-senior match with the Bulldogs' Alyssa Pizzoferrato and Sam Potocek 6-4, 6-0.
"We should be able to play (Batavia) better (even without Koenen)," said St. Charles North coach Eve Tubman. "We were close in some (of the matches)."