Naperville North claims DVC tennis title

Updated: October 8, 2011 7:04PM

Naperville North proved Saturday that four pairs beat three-of-a-kind.

The Huskies four pairs, the doubles teams who have been playing outstanding tennis all season, won their title matches to carry the Huskies to the DuPage Valley Conference championship at Glenbard East.

In winning their championships, the Huskies doubles, who were all No. 1 seeds, had to withstand the challenges presented by three Wheaton Warrenville South teams, who weren’t supposed to be there.

The Tigers pulled a trio of upsets over higher-seeded Naperville Central duos in the semifinals and they were primed to continue their Cinderella ways in the finals.

Since Wheaton Warrenville South’s singles Keisha Clousing, Emma Li and Emmi Chan swept the singles field, it all came down to first doubles for the tie and fourth for the win.

First, the Huskies third doubles Jessica Hu and Ellen Heidenreich took care of their Wheaton Warrenville South opponents 6-0, 6-2 and then second doubles Karen Liu and Julia Li prevailed over a pair of Tiger seniors Hannah Foster and Lindy Hart in a tight contest 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

First doubles Kayla Maxson and Tiffany Oken, who are now a combined 50-0 in DVC play for their careers, outdueled Wheaton Warrenville South’s Bridget Read and Lauren Castillo 7-6 (7-2),

“They played really well,” Maxson said. “They got a lot of balls back and made it really hard for us to play our game. But we have a lot of experience in close matches and we believed we could fight back.”

“They got us out of our game plan,” said Oken. “When we were down and we realized that losing wasn’t the end of the world, we were able to loosen up and play a lot better. Our volleying was definitely a major part of our game today.”

With that victory the Huskies secured at least a tie for the conference championship. It all came down to the fourth doubles final between Naperville North’s Grace Deetjen and Olivia Zhu against Wheaton Warrenville South’s Yasmeen Yusif and Sophia Nichols.

That one went three sets with the Huskies winning the match 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 and giving Naperville North the DVC championship.

The two first-year varsity Huskies were not aware during the match that so much was riding on their result.

“They didn’t tell us until we were finished,” said Zhu. “It was good that we didn’t know. I think we held it together a little better thinking it was just a normal match.”

“It was great to go out with a victory that helped us get the conference championship,” said Deetjen. “It was our last match as Huskies and it was good to finish like that.”

Naperville North finished the DVC campaign (regular season and tournament combined) with 58.5 points and Wheaton Warrenville South was second at 56.5. Naperville Central was third with 51.5.

“Our doubles have been carrying us all season,” said Naperville North coach Heather Henricksen. “And they did a great job today, especially in that last match with the two seniors winning in three sets.

“This DVC tournament is like this every year in both the girls and the boys seasons. Last year, we came in four points ahead and lost the title to Naperville Central in the tournament. So, I was a little worried about today. The tournament is stressful for the coach, but it builds character for the players because they really get to see what they’re capable of.”

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