Girls tennis: Timothy Christian reaching new heights
Prior to the start of the girls tennis season, Timothy Christian coach Keith Mills figured his team would have its share of success.
After watching the Trojans improve to 13-0-1 with Tuesday afternoon's 4-1 victory over St. Francis, the veteran coach admitted his optimism has been raised another level.
"I kind of expected we would have a good team," said Mills, now in his 18th year at the helm in Elmhurst. "With all of the season changes, new rules, and scheduling (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), we're doing even better than I expected."
Against St. Francis, Timothy split its singles matches, with Cassie Lee (12-1) downing the Spartans' Elen Ryson 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 singles before Nora Shannon evened the score with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over the Trojans' Kate Carpenter.
The Trojans pulled away by sweeping the doubles matches.
Sarah Carstensen and Crystina Lee combined for a straight set win in No. 1 doubles action, and Timothy outlasted St. Francis in the remaining matches, as Georgia Wells and Alexa Yelenosky teamed for a 5-7, 6-0, 13-11 win, and Bella Tornabene and Maddie Drye joined forces for a 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 decision in the No. 3 slot.
"We only graduated one senior and we knew we had two freshmen (Crystina Lee, Clarissa Chen) at the top of the lineup as well," said Mills. "I figured we'd have some question marks at the bottom of the lineup, but we've been winning at most positions."
That includes at the top where 4-year varsity mainstay Cassie Lee resides.
In late August at the Timothy quad, Lee broke the school record for career victories (boys or girls) when she teamed with Yelenosky for a 6-3, 6-0 decision over St. Francis' Maddie Hoden and Ryson - her 111th high school win - surpassing 2016 graduate McKenna Byrne on the all-time list.
Earlier that day, Lee suffered a 6-3, 6-0 loss to Glenbard North's Sage Hills before tying the school mark with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Kaneland's Piper Schrepferman.
"She had one of the worst losses and one of the best wins of her high school career on the same day," said Mills.
While Lee has accumulated 118 career victories, she has only lost 10 times, playing at first singles or first doubles for 4 years.
A three-time state qualifier, Lee reached the Class 1A consolation quarterfinals last season before falling to Benet's Danielle Nenadovich.
Her first two seasons, Lee teamed with Abygale Ahn for back-to-back third-place state doubles finishes.
"Cassie is a very hard worker and she's very competitive," said Mills. "She has a lot of power, quick feet, and she keeps the ball in play.
"She is our team captain this year. She's always cheering on her teammates - she's not just worried about herself."
Without a state tournament, Mills' plan of teaming Cassie and her sister, Crystina, at doubles, have been derailed.
However, Timothy will host conference and sectional tournaments, giving Mills a couple more weeks to watch his top player in action.
"Cassie is easily one of the best players that has played at Timothy Christian," said the coach. "She plans to play in college."
•Cary-Grove (18-4, 10-2) handed Jacobs (15-1, 11-1) its first loss during Tuesday's 4-3 Fox Valley Conference decision.
Chloe Siegfort and Isha Desai recorded singles wins for the Golden Eagles while Annabella Gaffaney won at No. 3 singles for the Trojans, who received doubles victories from Nicki Carpatiuc/Lexie Soltis and Kim Klawitter/Brooke Iverson, setting the stage for the decisive win at No. 1 doubles.
"The match went to three sets with Kate Larry and Katie Jannusch prevailing (7-5, 0-6, 6-3)," said Cary-Grove coach Therese Youel.
In other FVC action, Huntley (16-2, 11-1) earned a 7-0 win over Hampshire Tuesday behind singles wins from Ruhi Gulati, Elaina Hibbeler, and Alessandra Rivera.
•Prospect improved to 14-6 with Tuesday's 6-1 victory over Rolling Meadows.
Hanna Haber provided the lone win for the Mustangs at No. 1 singles (6-4, 6-0), but Prospect swept the doubles matches, led by Katherine Doyle/Natalie Katsaros, and Alex Giannopoulos/Hannah Pesaru in the first and second slots, respectively.
In Tuesday's other action, Grayslake North downed Antioch, 6-1, behind singles wins from Hannah Pawlowski and Isabella Moran; Wheeling defeated Streamwood 5-2, sweeping 4 doubles matches despite singles wins from the Sabres' Katelyn Nguyen and Ritu Thakkar; Glenbard West edged York 4-3, powered by Shannele Lopez and Susanna Maltby at No. 1 and 2 singles; and Crystal Lake South blanked McHenry 7-0.
On Monday, Glenbard South swept 3 singles matches with Lorenza FosterSimbulan, Sophia Pistryak, and Maddie Puzon, during its 5-2 win over West Aurora; and Katelyn Stritzel won at No. 1 singles during Aurora Central Catholic's 3-2 victory over Rosary.
Last Saturday, Neuqua Valley handed Benet Academy (14-1) its first loss in an 18-6 decision (college scoring format). Neuqua (6-0) claimed 10 of 16 singles matches, led by Emily Chiou's 8-4 win over the Redwings' Kaitlyn Lee in the No. 1 slot.