|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Sports
Charging the net : Sports : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisCharging the net
| Oswego East's Harlow seeded in state tennis tournament
| by Kristin Sharp
| 10/20/2011
|
The Batavia girls' tennis team had a dominating performance at the West Aurora Sectional last weekend, but three Oswego East players fought their way into the state tournament.
Sophomore Sajela Harlow was the singles sectional champion after posting a 4-0 record last Friday and Saturday while seniors Erinn Brooks and Kylee Jackson placed third in the doubles bracket to join Harlow in the state finals. All three Oswego East athletes are returning state qualifiers and Jackson will be making her fourth appearance in the prestigious tournament.
Oswego East entered the sectional tournament hopeful to win the championship, but Batavia advanced two singles players and both doubles teams to state, scoring 31 points to win the West Aurora Sectional. The Wolves took runner-up honors with 23 points followed by host West Aurora in third with 14 points. Oswego scored two points in the tournament and the Panthers' season came to a close without a state qualifier.
"I knew (Batavia) was a good team going into the tournament. They were very disciplined," Oswego East head coach Pete Conrad said. "If we played more of our games we could have won some of those, but it just didn't happen for us."
Harlow, still battling an injury that forced her to forfeit the Southwest Prairie Conference championship match last weekend, picked up two wins last Friday to secure her place in the top four. She defeated Waubonsie Valley 6-2, 6-0 and Rosary 6-0, 6-1 in the opening rounds before defeating Batavia's Liza Fruendt 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals. In the championship game, Harlow defeated West Aurora's Emily Stefanicic 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).
"She's still basically in the same boat. She's still hurting, but she played through the pain and was able to make small adjustments in her own game. She did really well."
Jackson and Brooks had little trouble with their first two opponents, winning by identical scores of 6-1, 6-0 in the opening rounds over ACC and Yorkville to secure their place in the final four. But the duo lost 6-4, 4-6, 2-6 to Batavia seniors Hannah Potter and Kaitlin Mills in the semifinals to move into the third-place match. Waubonsie Valley forfeited the match, giving Oswego East third place.
"They got out on top and were playing very well and then they just had some rough serving games," Conrad said of the Batavia match. "Kylee's serve was off and Erinn had some trouble double faulting a little bit. I think it got in their heads and they were pushing themselves to be perfect. Give credit to Batavia; they were full of energy, focused and made very few mistakes."
The IHSA released state pairings on Tuesday, awarding Harlow a seed among the top 32 players. She will open play at Schaumburg High School today, Thursday, facing Huntley sophomore Jessica Chalas in the opening round.
Brooks and Jackson will travel to Buffalo Grove High School and open the first round against Moline seniors Amanda Rumley and Jenna Forsberg.
"Even after a tough loss, as soon as it was over Kylee and Erinn were focusing on what they needed to do this week," Conrad said. "After we leave Wednesday, we'll get a good meal, get a good night of sleep and get ready to hit it Thursday morning."
In other sectional results, Oswego East senior Kelly Zaprzal's season came to a close last Friday after a loss to Batavia junior Miranda Grizaffi in the qualifying match 3-6, 2-6. Grizaffi went on to place third overall.
"In Kelly's match it was going to be whoever made less mistakes and in this match, it was Batavia," Conrad said. "Kelly just couldn't be as consistent as she normally is. She just had an off night. It was a little disappointing. For Kelly as a senior, I know that was something she really wanted and it's something she's worked hard for all year."
Oswego East freshmen Alexis Blackmon and Leena Hwang defeated West Aurora in the play-in match, but lost to Potter and Mills 6-0, 6-0 in the first round to be eliminated from the bracket.
"I was very pleased with the way they played. They won their play-in match and did very well. They came across the team who took first in doubles from Batavia - Potter and Mills. It was a rough experience, but they kept their heads up. It was a good experience for them as freshmen and gave them some things to work on in the offseason for next year."
For Oswego, senior Christie Parkinson and Laura Dombkowski scored two points for the Panthers as they defeated IMSA 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, but ended their season in the next round, falling to West Aurora 4-6, 2-6.
Senior Keri Gooch and sophomore Courtney Gooch paired up in the doubles bracket and lost to second-seeded Waubonsie Valley 6-7 (8-10), 2-6 to be eliminated.
"Keri and Courtney played a good first set," Oswego head coach Kate Belke said. "They fought for everything. They came out a little shaky since they were singles players playing as a doubles team. They were only supposed to play a seven-point tiebreak for a set and took it to 8-10, so they really battled. After dropping the tiebreaker, they were so frustrated that they let it get to them in the second set. It was a winnable match, but their emotions got to them."
Senior Emma Gorman lost to Yorkville's No. 2 singles player in the opening round 3-6, 2-6 while junior Michaela Wagner lost to Yorkville's No. 1 singles player in the first round, 0-6, 3-6.
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
