Girls tennis / scouting Northwest
Scouting girls tennis state tournament
The girls tennis state tournament begins today and extends through Saturday, with Prospect High School as host school. The tournament holds a double-elimination format with a field of 128 aspiring state qualifiers in both doubles and singles. Flights will be held at all 12 Mid-Suburban League campuses.
Top teams: Lake Forest, Hinsdale Central, Deerfield, Barrington and New Trier
Local outlook: Barrington and Buffalo Grove are the sole MSL Conference teams that sent more than one player/team to state.
Barrington: The Fillies approaches the state tournament after winning a 16th consecutive MSL title, and a seventh straight sectional title at Schaumburg (under Tracy Waters-Miller). Barrington took fourth place in the 2009-10 tournament. Senior Kristy Dodge (28-3) qualified for a fourth and final state berth and is seeded No. 3 in the tournament. Dodge placed second with former doubles partner Kelsey Linden in 2007, took fourth as a singles player in 2008 and sixth in 2009 (also as a singles player).
Joining Dodge at the state tournament is Barrington doubles teams of freshman Heather Ciskowski/sophomore Zoe Kasuriak (22-3) and juniors Kate Allison-Alia Nejdawi (19-6). Ciskowski and Kasuriak are seeded in the ninth slot, while Allison and Nejdawi are 18th. The two teams placed first-and-second, respectively, in the Schaumburg sectional
Buffalo Grove: The Bison were runner-up to Barrington at the MSL tournament and finished third in the Stevenson sectional. Senior Nell Boyd (21-7) enters her fourth consecutive state tournament as a singles player. Boyd is seeded 18th. “Nell has the capability to play the best tennis in the state,” said Buffalo Grove coach Kevin Schrammel. “Nell gets stronger every year physically. I think she's got a lot of great tennis in front of her. She hasn't peaked and she's been our best player for four years. Aside from being a great tennis player, she's a fantastic girl. She's a very positive player, and we're going to miss her.”
Besides Boyd, the Bison send twin sophomore duo Dana and Lauren Goggin to their second state qualification. The Goggins (20-9) are seeded 20th in the doubles bracket.
Schaumburg: Sophomore Monica Lin (18-4) receives her second trip to the state tournament. Lin was runner up to Barrington's Kristy Dodge in both the MSL tournament and Schaumburg sectional. In the 2009-10 season, Lin finished in the top-16 of the state tournament. Lin is seeded 15th in this year's tournament. “With wins against the Glenbard West one player and (Buffalo Grove's Nell Boyd) she's able to get a good seed,” said Schaumburg coach Jason Campbell at the Sectional tournament. “Last year, (Lin) played a specific dimension of tennis. She would hit hard from the baseline and drive the ball. This year she's putting more variety in her games. She plays longer rallies and creates a good hop. We hope she can relax and settle into her game.”
Fremd : Junior Maggie Lundholm and sophomore Holly Kometer (2-2) played the whole season as the 1-2 singles players. For the Schaumburg sectional Tournament, coach Lauren Hall decided to the pair them as a tandem, which earned them a state bid after taking fourth in the sectional tournament. “The first match is crucial to stay in the first draw,” Hall said. “We've been focusing on match play and return serves. (I'm telling them to) they've made it this far, and they've got to be ready to compete. They need to push forward and be aggressive. Make it count. I think they're ready.”
Prospect : For the bulk of the season, barring a few invitationals, no. 1 junior singles player Maggie Partridge and no. 1 doubles player Jackie Hertrich (12-6) did not play as a team. Prospect coach Karie McClure knew from the opening of the season that the two would ultimately pair to try and make the state tournament. Hertrich (badminton, 2009) and Partridge (track, 2008) both have state experience and took third place in the Schaumburg sectional. “If they could win one round, anything could happen,” McClure said. “As a coach, it's my job to see if we can qualify as many as we can. Even if they go into the back draw, they can still win a medal. It's nice having the home court system because you have the school kids come out cheering for you. It'll be fun.”
Hoffman Estates: In her first year as a high school student, freshman Courtney Lang (16-6) receives a berth into the state tournament. She placed fourth in both the MSL tournament and the Schaumburg sectional.
Leyden: In her first and final year at Leyden, Kornelia Nowaczyk earned a birth into the state tournament. Nowaczyk took third place in the WSC tournament and fourth in the York sectional. “(Nowaczyk) needs to be more consistent,” said Leyden coach Bob Smith. “She's a really aggressive player. I'm telling her to keep the ball in play and not trying to make every shot a winner. She needs to shoot high percentage shots. We're really happy about her qualifying. This is the first time we've qualified someone in six or seven years.”