Naperville-Sun tennis focus

Waubonsie Valley first-singles Jenna Eisses is starting to draw attention from Division III tennis programs.

And that's remarkable because Eisses, a senior, just started playing competitively last year after spending her first two years of high school as a Warriors' volleyball player.

In the transition from volleyball to tennis, Eisses, who moved right into the lineup at first-singles, has certainly paid her dues.

"She lost her first 10 matches," Waubonsie Valley coach Phil Galow said. "Many of those losses were to highly-ranked opponents. But she never gave up, never got discouraged and never asked to be placed lower in the lineup or in doubles. She just came back to practice wanting to do more. In 30 years, I don't think I ever coached a kid who was quite like that, who wanted to keep coming back for more."

Eventually, Eisses' skills started to catch up with her athletic ability, her character and her work ethic, and she started to hold her own with the really good players, and she won her share of matches.

The experience was enough to convince her that she was going to continue to work to make herself into a tennis player.

"In the offseason she played in a tournament every weekend," Galow said. "Again, win or lose, she never wavered. And you can see when she returned for varsity tryouts this year she was a much more polished player. She's very smart and very mature for her age, and she learned from every mistake. She's gotta love the game."

Galow believes Eisses can make it at the next level because of her athleticism, because she hits with the power needed to play in college, but most of all because he believes Eisses can succeed in anything she wants to do.

And her story isn't lost on the younger girls on the Warriors team.

"They know what Jenna's done," he said. "They're finding out they need to put in the work in the offseason to improve their game and to get the feel of the tournament schedule."

Changing on the fly

Most coaches are making lineup changes on the fly as the season goes on.

Benet's Bob Comerford knows he's fortunate to have been able to set his sectional lineup before the season even started.

"We always try to get things settled as early as we can," Comerford said. "But this year we're blessed with six players who are a cut above everyone else. And the top of our lineup has been the same since the beginning."

Junior Cassie Kovach is an experienced state qualifier at first singles and playing behind her is wunderkind freshman Leah Tzakis.

At first-doubles is the established junior pair of Kim Simmons and Madeline Carney, and at second doubles are sophomores Daniella Reyes and Mary Beth King, who are playing their first year together as partners.

And this is a lineup that can stay in tact for two years because there's not a senior among them.

That's good news because the Redwings have run up an 19-0 record thus far this year.

Reyes, who had a successful year at doubles with another partner last year, and King, who went 33-2 at singles as a freshman, have been breezing by the opposition.

"It's been fun this year because Daniella and I have become close friends," King said. "We know each other's games and I'm learning a lot about the doubles game. The success has been great, but I also love the team aspect of doubles."

Reyes and King give the Redwings a luxury they've now had for several years, a pair of doubles teams that are practically interchangeable.

"The girls were committed to play as a team before last summer," Comerford said. "They played a lot together in the offseason, so by the time they started practicing with Benet, they were at the point where they could work on the strategies and the finer points that separate a very good doubles team from just a good doubles team."

Comerford said their games complement each other perfectly.

Reyes is an outstanding baseline player who can create openings with her ground-strokes, while, according to the coach "Mary Beth is the hammer at the net. She's a closer."

King is the more consistent server, while Reyes has more pace on her serve.

"Their personalities are also different," Comerford said. "Mary Beth gets ‘fire in the belly' pumped up, while Daniella is much more laid back."

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