Wildkits off to strong start in conference

Joyce Chang Anderson knew it was a matter of time before the Evanston girls tennis team broke through with a victory.

After the Wildkits got their first win last week against Waukegan, they followed that up with another against Niles West. All of a sudden, Evanston, which lost its first seven dual matches, enters this week 2-0 in the CSL South. The Wildkits were scheduled to play Maine South on Tuesday and Glenbrook South on Thursday.

Evanston beat Waukegan 7-0 before defeating Niles West 4-3, going 3-1 in doubles play against the Wolves.

Anderson has chosen to load her doubles lineup with the team’s better players. Caroline Cary and Lydia Collins have been mainstays at No. 1 doubles, while Maya Aurichio and Olivia Schultze are at No. 2 doubles.

“The singles position is so difficult, especially where we play,” said Anderson, who’s in her first season in charge of the program. “In doubles, you can really coach a team to win the close ones based on strategy. If you play good doubles strategy, you can beat a better team.

“Doubles also is more fun for the kids.”

Anderson played both singles and doubles in college at Columbia (N.Y.).

“All of our girls have played doubles,” the coach said. “We have been mixing it up.”

Seniors Cary and Collins are contenders to earn a trip to the state tournament. Cary is healthy again after missing most of last season with an injury.

“They are a strong team, for sure,” Anderson said.

Anderson paired Aurichio and Schultze together after Madeline Rauch re-injured her knee earlier this month.

“They are doing great,” Anderson said of the junior Aurichio and the sophomore Schultze. “They pretty much picked it up from the minute I put them together. Both are strong from the baseline and at the net. They are fun to watch because they really want to win every time out.”

Sophomore Joan Gibbons won her spot at No. 1 singles despite struggling in the preseason. Senior Mara Getz is at No. 2 singles, and junior Emma Richardson is at No. 3 singles. Richardson was the only one to win at Niles West, beating Smita Jain 6-0, 6-2.

Other girls competing in the lineup this season are Sammi Warner, Isabel Avery, Gabrielle Rivera and Lani Berk. Avery, Schultze and Gibbons are three sophomores in the starting rotation.

At Maine South’s invitational last weekend, the Wildkits took sixth in the nine-team field. Olivia Luby took second at No. 4 singles, and Richardson finished fourth at No. 3 singles.

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