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Girls tennis: Timothy Christian weathers Montini

With two scheduled invitationals already rained out, Timothy Christian girls tennis coach Keith Mills was glad for Tuesday's beautiful weather so his team could face Montini.

The Trojans won 4-1 in a nonconference match at the Broncos' home of the Butterfield Park District tennis courts in Lombard.

"We need matches. But the team is really playing to what I expect. There are things to work on in the bottom of the lineup. The top of the lineup is real strong," Mills said.

The Trojans have three players returning this season who competed at state in 2015, starting with No. 1 singles player Abygale Ahn, who won 6-1, 6-2. She went 1-2 at state, reaching the second round of the consolation bracket.

"(Going to state) motivated me to do better. I think I've gotten progressively better this season," the sophomore said.

Seniors Danielle Beard and Maddie Monat 6-1, 6-0. They too won a match at state last season and reached the second round of the consolation bracket.

"I think playing people who are that good helped us a lot. It made us mentally strong and we learned to push through," Monat said.

Monat is a strong player at the net, and Beard's skill is at the baseline. Beard said playing together well comes with experience.

"We know each other's talents and how we play. That makes it easy to communicate," she said.

Allison Zeilstra and Kaleigh Bone won at No. 2 doubles 6-1, 6-0, and Anna Thompson and Olivia Holmes prevailed at No. 3, 6-0, 7-6 to complete the Trojans' doubles sweep.

Dual meets are always crucial, but they take on added importance this season for the Trojans. They will compete in the first Class 1A tournament with tennis is now divided into two classes.

Timothy Christian won last season's York sectional against bigger schools but will host a sectional this fall. Mills said he put smaller schools on the schedule so that the Trojans can see teams they could see in the sectional.

Before that Timothy Christian will try and defend its Metro Suburban Conference title.

"We're still the team to beat," Mills said.

Montini's lone victory Tuesday came at No 2 singles as junior Ava Gianatasio succeeded 6-1, 6-0.

Coach Don Krystof said some of the Broncos' lineup are in new positions and need time to adjust.

"We definitely have some work to do," he said.

However, the Broncos are off to a good start in their division of the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference where they are undefeated. Some players are also perfect in conference play going into a key meet today against Providence.

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