Girls tennis: MSL's top talent thrive in state tourney

The Mid-Suburban League's top two singles players excelled on the first day of the girls tennis state tournament Thursday - and the top two doubles teams had similar success.

Palatine's Asuka Kawai and Elk Grove's Jelena Vujanic both came away decisive winners in their first two singles matches in the championship bracket.

Kawai breezed against her first two opponents, on her home courts at Palatine. She started with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Wheaton Warrenville South's Emily Orlove and followed that with a 6-0, 6-1 triumph against Lane's Hallie Leblebijian.

The next opponent for Kawai will be Deerfield Emily Casati in a Friday third-rounder at Hersey.

Vujanic first defeated Whitney Young's Darinka Stepan 6-3, 6-3 before earning a 6-1, 6-0 win over Rockford Guilford's Nicole Christiansen in the second round.

The Grens senior next faces Hinsdale South's Agata Mikos in third-round play Friday at Hersey.

Jelena's sophomore sister, Jovana, dropped a tough first-rounder to Jelly Bozovic of Lyons 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 before earning a 6-1, 6-1 decision against Marist's Nicole Micklin in the consolation bracket.

Fremd senior Diya Matta lost her opening match but then won twice in the consolation bracket, claiming a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Mackenzie Shelton of O'Fallon and a 6-1, 6-0 win against Jacobs' Haley Steinkamp.

In Class 2A doubles action, Barrington's Sara Amano and Nidhi Jha first topped Hannah Keidan and Sophia Kreider of Oak Park-River Forest 6-4, 6-0 before defeating York's Alex Hennessy and Maja Shaw 6-3, 6-0. Next for the Fillies' tandem is a match against Edwardsville's Grace Desse and Morgan Colbert.

Fremd's Kate Bodensteiner and Julia Smiarowska also won twice in the championship bracket, first topping New Trier Natalie Kalter/Michelle Buyer 6-3, 6-4 and then Rockton Hononegah's Hsing-Yng Louh and Erin Zanolla 6-4, 6-2. The Vikings will next meet Glenbrook North's Colette O'Regan and Catherine O'Regan in third-round action Friday at Buffalo Grove.

In Class 1A singles, St. Viator's Patricia Dizon won her opening match 6-3, 6-3 against Lizzie McClure of Peoria Notre Dame before losing in the second round. But Dizon bounced back with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Morton's Crystal Cobler in a second-round consolation bracket matchup.

The St. Viator doubles team of Clara Carlson and Greta Zimmerman earned a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 win against Dunlap's Smriti Barla and Deepti Sudhakar before dropping their second-round matchup in the championship bracket.

Libertyville doubles partners Danielle Blaser and Callie Klein had a perfect start.

A Class 2A 5-8 seed, Blaser/Klein posted 6-0, 6-0 wins in each of their first two matches at Conant. Their third-round opponent will be Stevenson's Katherine Harvey/Paige Nierman at Buffalo Grove. Harvey/Nierman, a 9-16 seed, also started the day with back-to-back wins, losing only two games.

Through two rounds, Stevenson was in first place with 14 points, two more than runner-up Hinsdale Central.