Girls tennis: Naperville North, WW South prep for DVC meet
DuPage Valley Conference regular-season business ended Monday for host Naperville North against Wheaton Warrenville South when the Huskies edged the Tigers 4-3 on senior day.
Naperville North coach Heather Henricksen and WW South coach Patti Clousing head to Wednesday's seeding meeting for this weekend's DuPage Valley Conference meet to see where their players land.
For the Huskies, Henricksen considers the No. 1 doubles team of Brooke Stensby and Kayvan Rachapalli and the No. 4 duo of Lauren Sun and Shweta Manoharan likely high seeds and conference title contenders. Stensby and Rachapalli's only conference loss was to Metea Valley earlier in the season and Sun and Manoharan suffered their first defeat Monday.
Henricksen said Naperville North likely will enter this weekend's competition in third place (teams earn points for regular-season dual meets) and likely will stay there. But that doesn't mean the Huskies can't enjoy success.
"We have some goals to win conference in individual spots and that's nice to be able to do that when you are pretty far behind to win as a team," she said.
Stensby/Rachapalli won their match Monday 6-3, 6-3. The Huskies also prevailed at No. 2 doubles with Chandani Bansal and Kayla O'Connor winning 6-0, 6-0 and the No. 3 pair of Claire Szilagyi and Magdalena Foster victorious 6-3, 6-2.
No. 3 singles player Jennifer Ray also won in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.
For WW South, the lineup leads with No. 1 and No. 2 singles players who are undefeated overall.
Sophomore Sam Choi won Monday 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1. She is a returning state qualifier, having gone 4-2 and reaching the seventh round of the consolation bracket at state in 2015.
"It definitely prepared me. Last year I was totally unprepared for how many matches I would play in such a short time," Choi said.
She added that her continued success this season depends on several factors.
"I need to make my opponent run on the court and be consistent. I need to focus on keeping my head in the game and not get distracted," Choi said.
Freshman Emily Orlove won at No. 2, also 6-0, 6-0. Orlove came to high school tennis with plenty of experience.
"It's an adjustment. Tennis is an individual sport. But I like being on a team, supporting teammates, they supporting me," she said.
The other point for the Tigers came from the No. 4 doubles team of Kathryn Holy and Stephanie Deluca, who won 6-4, 6-4.
"I think we'll be somewhere in the middle of the pack. We've gained a lot of experience and our team is playing better. We lost to some teams and we could surprise them playing again at conference and that would be great for us," Clousing said.
Naperville North closes the regular season Tuesday at Wheaton Academy, and WW South celebrates its senior day against Downers Grove North. The DVC meet is Friday and Saturday at Metea Valley and Waubonsie Valley.