Lake Forest leads state tourney
With a smaller field of state title hopefuls, the girls tennis state tournament reconvened for the second day of competition at Prospect High School, with flights also at Hersey, Fremd, Rolling Meadows and Palatine.
After a second day of action, Lake Forest leads all teams with 36 points. Following Lake Forest is Hinsdale Central with 32 and New Trier at 31.
Lake Forest jumped ahead after a strong victory by duo senior Haleigh McPeek/freshman Elizabeth Zordani against defending state champions Prairie Ridge seniors Carolyn Huerth/Allison Murphy
“I was very confident in their ability,” said Lake Forest coach Denise Murphy. “The team unity is very strong. We've been unbelievably aggressive, and I'm not surprised by that. They're always fighting, so they're not going to go down very easily.”
“I don't look at points because I'm not a math person. I'm just rooting on my team.”
Barrington senior Kristy Dodge and Schaumburg sophomore Monica Lin are the remaining MSL players. However, Dodge and Lin resume play today in the consolation bracket. They will both compete at Hersey today at 8 a.m.
Dodge won against her opponent Stevenson freshman Alexxis Kiven 6-4, 6-2 in the fourth round to earn a spot in the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, Wheaton Warrenville South freshman Keisha Clousing defeated Dodge 6-0, 6-3.
“She just couldn't keep up,” said Barrington head coach Tracy Waters-Miller. “No excuses, Keisha played the net well. That's how you do it if you want to beat Kristy.
“Kristy has been one of the top players in Barrington history at singles and doubles.”
Lin also progressed into the quarterfinals after defeating Grayslake North junior Kelly Poggensee-Wei 6-3, 6-2.
Lin met Glenbrook North senior Hanna Yu in the quarterfinals and lost the first set 6-2. After trailing 5-1 Lin rallied back to win three consecutive matches. However, Yu closed out the victory, thus sending Lin to the consolation bracket.
“(Lin) was playing a very good player, and she realized she had a narrow window,” said Schaumburg coach Jason Campbell of Lin's late comeback. “When you have two great players, power can shift easily. (Yu) was feeling a little safe, but Monica wasn't ready to lose so she fought back.”
“We're all happy for (Lin) that she made it this far. We'll see who we get tomorrow.”
The No.1 (freshman Heather Ciskowski/sophomore Zoe Kasuriak) and 2 (juniors Kate Allison/Alia Nejdawi) Barrington doubles team both won matches Friday in the consolation feed-in.
Ciskowski and Kasuriak defeated doubles teams Oswego East (7-5, 6-0) and Mundelin (7-5, 6-4). However, the tandem would lose in their third match against Nazareth 6-1, 6-4.
The Allison/Nejdawi duo tallied a victory in their first match against St. Charles East 7-5, 6-3, but fell to Hinsdale South 7-5 (2) 6-1.
“Everybody has a job to do, and the doubles team scored points,” Waters-Miller said. “It doesn't matter what draw their in, they get four points off a win. We'll try to end up in fifth place. (Kristy Dodge) will fight back.”
Buffalo Grove senior Nell Boyd played in a fourth-round bout against Carmel senior Jasmine Minor, and fell 6-2, 6-1.
Boyd lost in the following consolation feed-in sixth-round to Bartlett freshman Jennifer Gates in a three-set shootout 6-4, 4-6 and 4-6 in her final state showing.
“My first goal was to get in a round of 16,” Boyd said. “I played a tough girl, and I wish I could have pulled through. I'm so happy with my career at Buffalo Grove. We have a great team, and I made so many friends.”
Buffalo Grove s Dana and Lauren Goggin played their consolation feed-in match against Whitney Young and fell 6-3, 2-6 and 5-7.
Prospect duo Maggie Partridge and Jackie Hertrich advanced to day two in the consolation feed-in, but we're defeated by York 6-4, 6-3.
“We came in knowing we had nothing to lose,” Partridge said. “We played pretty well, but we didn't expect it to be this intense. I'm really happy I was able to experience this with Jackie, because she's a senior. It was emotional. I'm glad we were partners.”
The tournament finale begins today at 8 a.m. at Prospect.