Girls tennis: St. Charles North garners Oswego title

Emma Spellman and Shelby Thomas only play together at select girls tennis tournaments.

But the St. Charles North tandem picked up their second major invitational title in as many weekends by downing their Upstate Eight River rivals from Batavia in the championship of the Oswego Tennis Invite on Saturday afternoon.

The North Stars' second unit of Brittany Rohrsen and Morgan Rerko withstood a third-set tiebreaker with their Joliet Catholic opponents in the third-place match only moments later.

"We finished second in every tournament we have played this year," St. Charles North coach Sean Masoncup said.

But there would be no runner-up trophies for the North Stars this day as the teams' twin victories gave St. Charles North a 19-18 triumph over Jacobs and Joliet Catholic.

Batavia was fourth, followed by Aurora Central Catholic, Oswego and Bartlett.

"I'm proud of the girls," Masoncup said. "They came ready to play. This is the first time we have won (a major tournament) as a program in eight to 10 years. It's a great win, especially being in my first year."

Batavia juniors Julianne Robinson and Maddie Rea denied the North Stars' Rohrsen and Rerko in the semifinals at Oswego East, but Spellman and Thomas were cohesive from the start when the site shifted to Oswego for the finals.

"I think we were aggressive with me at the net, and Shelby is really good on the baseline," Spellman said of the straight-set wins by identical scores of 6-3. "We were really good at the net. That's what helped us."

But the team outcome was still in doubt as Jacobs had its two doubles team playing each other for fifth place; the Golden Eagles were guaranteed team points.

The third-set tiebreaker was the first team to reach 10 points.

Rerko and Rohrsen did just that to earn the major-consolation title with the 6-4, 1-6, 10-7 triumph.

"We had a pretty good day overall," Rerko said. "We played some good games. We got a tempo, we got it going, and we just kept playing. We came out with a win, so that was exciting."

Jacobs' Ashley Kosy and Haley Steinkamp found a dangerous foe in Joliet Catholic senior Nina Bertino.

Ranked in the Midwest, Bertino ended the season-long 14-match winning streak of Steinkamp to reach the finals.

Kosy did not drop a game in advancing to the singles finals, and the two seniors were soon engaged in an epic encounter of lengthy rallies conducted mainly from the baseline.

Bertino outlasted Kosy 7-6 (7-4) and 6-4 to win the championship.

"She was using slices and top spin, which I'm not a big fan of (defending)," the three-time state qualifier Kosy said. "I guess I have to work on that part. I guess I got a little tired in the second set."

Steinkamp dropped a lone game in the third-place singles match.

"I'm happy that I played well and put forth my best effort (against Bertino)," Kosy said. "During the third-place match, I was able to swing out more on my backhand. That really helps my game in progressing forward."

Batavia senior Kate McClure won the fifth-place singles match despite playing with a broken bone in her left arm.