Benet doubles its winning ways

For Benet doubles players Madeline Carney and Kim Simmons it was just a matter of playing their kind of doubles game and taking care of business.

And when they did that they outdueled Barrington's Zoe Kasuriak and Heather Ciskowski in their third-round match in the state girls tennis tournament and stayed undefeated in the championship bracket to advance to Friday's Sweet Sixteen.

The Benet girls lost the first set 6-4 because they got away from doing what they do best, which is to dominate opponents at the net.

“Barrington's game was groundstrokes and we were playing that game with them,” Simmons said. “In the second set we calmed down, went to the net and put some balls away. That gave us confidence and made us more comfortable, and we were able to turn it around.”

Carney and Simmons won the next two sets going away 6-2, 6-2.

“We beat them mentally,” Carney said. “We pumped ourselves up using positive energy. At first we weren't cutting across enough and we didn't hit enough volleys. Then we started doing those things and that's how we won.”

“By going to the final 16 Madeline and I beat our 17-32 seed,” Simmons said. “Now we have nothing to lose and everything to gain tomorrow. We'll start off the next round coming to the net a lot.”

Benet's other doubles team of sophomores Mary Beth King and Daniella Reyes also won three matches to advance to the Round of 16, and they beat their seed as well. That's because the tournament committee neglected to seed them despite their 32-2 record.

“Not getting seeded put a little fire in us to prove ourselves to the IHSA,” King said. “Not getting seeded turned out fine because it gave us the drive and motivation to do well.”

“The pressure of the state tournament makes everybody tight,” said Benet coach Bob Comerford. “But our girls handled it. They responded to the pressure. Benet, which has always been known for its doubles tradition, has never had two doubles teams advance this far at state before.”

The Redwings go into Friday's competition in fifth place in the team standings with 17 points, 5 behind the co-leaders Hinsdale Central and Lake Forest.

Hinsdale Central singles Alex Solovyev and doubles Julia Quintero and Kristy Hamilton and Marika Cusick and Caroline Lorenzini advanced to the fourth round in the championship bracket.

Wheaton Warrenville South freshman Keisha Clousing also won all three of her matches on Thursday, but she was tested in the round of 32 by Maria Avgerinos of York.

Clousing won 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 and she needed to win the last three games in the third set to advance.

After dropping the first set Avgerinos played practically errorless tennis to win the second set decisively.

The rubber set was even at 2-2 before Clousing went up 4-2 and seemed to be in control.

But the York sophomore won 3 games in a row and went ahead 5-4.

Clousing then closed out the match by keeping her cool and taking the last three games.

“It was really excited to watch,” said Wheaton Warrenville South coach Patty Clousing. “Maria played very well and Keisha was patient and, when she had the chance to hit, she went for it.”

In today's fourth-round action Clousing meets Adesuwa Osabuohien of Homewood-Flossmoor, the only person to defeat her during the high school season.