Hinsdale South, McNally claim titles

Updated: May 5, 2011 11:00PM

The odds favored another meeting between Hinsdale South’s Andrea McNally and Lincoln-Way Central’s Jessi Glennon in the sectional final, but it was difficult to tell who would win.

The singles players met for the third time Thursday at the Hinsdale South Sectional. This time, NcNally won, pulling out a 21-13, 22-20 victory on her home court. Both players will return to the state meet May 13-14 for the second consecutive year.

McNally led another swarm of six Hornets to the state meet, which included returnee Brittany DeClouette in doubles. DeClouette combined with her fifth partner of the season, Anjali Pal, and beat Lincoln-Way Central’s Jessica Cimaroli and Veronica Baldermann, 21-12, 21-10, for the championship.

Hinsdale South won its 13th consecutive sectional title, beating the Knights for the title 17-9.

DeClouette was second in the sectional last year with Lauren Schiappa, who graduated.

McNally (45-7) should receive a top eight seed for the state meet, according to coach John Charters.

“I think I have experience from going down there before,” said McNally, a starter from the basketball team. “This has prepared me. Already going down there definitely helps.”

This time, NcNally hopes to reach Saturday’s round, which eluded all of Hinsdale South’s players last year. McNally and DeClouette, the Hornets’ top two players, are juniors. Still, Charters feels this year’s group will be in trophy contention.

“This year we’re pounding the door,” Charters said. “Next year, we’ll be kicking the thing in.”

McNally beat Glennon, a senior, two consecutive times. McNally won 22-20, 21-19 in the New Trier Featherfest semifinals. The two met in the first match of the season at the H-F Quad with Glennon winning 21-13, 22-20.

“She is one of the top competitors seeking a state title,” Glennon said. “It’s good to get her now. (Returning to) state is very exciting; that feeling you get from carrying your school flag and representing the school.”

Emma Adcock will make her first state singles appearance after finishing third for the Hornets with a 21-17, 21-12 victory H-F’s Cory Galen.

Hinsdale South’s Sana Soni and Christine Stella advanced with a 22-20, 21-5 win over Oak Forest’s Kelly Johnson and Sammie Luciano. Stella has paired with Soni for only the last third of the season.

“We just have a personality that works well together. We collaborate well.”

Charters played the role of mad scientist while putting his doubles teams together. Each of them are relatively new pairings.

“I tried to put the stable people with the firecrackers,” Charters said. “Brittany and Christine are firecrackers. Anjali and Soni are stable forces.

So far, so good.

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