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Unbeaten Benet hands North first defeat
On paper, the girls tennis matchup between Naperville North and Benet looked very good even before the first serve. On Thursday, these two nonconference rivals and their combined record of 15-1 met in Naperville, and the result was a 9-0 sweep from the Redwings.
Two singles matches and seven sets of doubles were played on a day where rain briefly interrupted the action. It was the first loss for the Huskies (7-1) all season while Benet improved to 9-1 overall.
“Coming into the match, it was about as good as it gets for us,” Naperville North coach Heather Henricksen said. “We knew what we were in store for with Benet because, with the exception of the freshmen, these girls played Benet last year (the Redwings won). Our goal was to be in every match.”
“(Naperville North has) a nice, strong team, and they’ve really improved since last year,” Benet coach Bob Comerford added. “They are going to be a factor at sectionals and will be someone to watch.”
Benet’s No. 1 singles sophomore Leah Tzakis remained undefeated this season (7-0) with her 6-0, 6-0 win over Hannah Guenther. Tzakis, who also plays at No. 2 singles, was filling in for Cassie Kovach, a state qualifier last year. Kovach opted to play doubles so she wouldn’t have to serve as much.
Daniella Reyes beat Madura Patil, 6-1, 6-1 in No. 2 singles for the Redwings. Kim Simmons and Madeline Carney, Benet’s No. 1 doubles team who both qualified for state last year, won 6-2, 6-2 over Kamille Stadalninkaite and Abbie Boswell. No. 2 doubles Mary Beth King and Kovach topped Naperville North’s Tiffany Oken and Kayla Maxon, 6-1, 6-2.
Benet’s Olivia Watson and Maggie Wilhelm defeated Julia Li and Karen Liu, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 3 doubles and in the final and longest match of the evening, Maya McKeown and Carter Jankauskas at No. 4 doubles, won 6-0, 3-6 (7-9) 7-6 against Naperville North’s Ellen Heidenreich and Jessica Hu.
Megan Carison, Megan Vicek, Katherine Sieve and Christine Faroian all posted wins as well for Benet in doubles action.
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