Chen, Allen, Choi advance
Naperville Central senior Tiffany Chen played like a former state singles champion on the first day of the state girls tennis tournament.
Chen on Thursday cruised through the first three rounds, losing only one game in those three matches.
Chen, the 2013 state champion and third-place finisher in 2014 and the top seed in 2015, will continue Friday in the fourth round at Buffalo Grove High School. She will play Angelina Ye of Sycamore. Ye went three sets to advance against Gaby Schoenberg of Grant in her third-round match.
Chen wasn't the only DuPage County tennis player to win all three of her first-day matches. Glenbard East sophomore Kolie Allen also advanced to Friday's singles fourth round.
Allen, a 5-8 seed, defeated Timothy Christian's McKenna Byrne in the third round 6-2, 6-1. She also survived a difficult second-round match, defeating Dhwani Kumar of Stevenson 6-3, 7-6 (4). New Trier's Cammy Frei, a 9-16 seed, will be her fourth-round opponent.
Wheaton Warrenville South freshman Samantha Choi, a 17-32 seed, stayed alive in the championship bracket, going to three sets to defeat Hinsdale Central's Sophia Haleas 6-4, 2-6 6-4. On Friday she will play Alessandra Bianco of the Latin School, a 3-4 seed.
The 2013 and 2014 runner-up and second seed in 2015, Isabella Lorenzini of Hinsdale Central, lost only two games through her first three matches. She advanced to play Jelly Bozovic of West Suburban Silver rival Lyons Twp. in the fourth round.
Glenbard West's Caroline Maltby was knocked into the consolation bracket with her third-round loss to Joliet Catholic's Nina Bertino 6-3, 6-3.
WW South's Katya Shcherbyna lost to Lorenzini in the first round but won her next two matches and advanced through the consolation bracket. She plays Sarah Hackman of Wauconda at Palatine High School on Friday.
Among local doubles teams, only the two Hinsdale Central pairs made it through to the fourth round of the championship bracket. Sandra Keta and Stephanie Dolehide open Friday against New Trier's Michelle Buyer and Tess Lubin. Erika Oku and Danielle Burich play Morgan Colbert and Grace Desse of Edwardsville.
Benet's Allison Bartley and Katie Telford lost 6-3 6-2 in the third round to a Glenbrook North team. They will play in the consolation bracket against a Belleville East pair.
Naperville North's Nadia Hussain and Lena Zhu fell 6-4, 6-3 to a Fremd pair. They moved to the consolation bracket and will meet an Edwardsville team.
Hinsdale Central leads the team standings with 22 points, 2 more than second place Stevenson.