Rebels’ Pasko rolls into quarterfinals

T.F. South senior Loran Pasko is known as the “Freak,” a nickname her coach, Sean Coultas, tagged her with last year because he thinks her athleticism is unorthodox.

Pasko is in an unorthodox place for a T.F. South badminton player. She breezed to three victories Friday on the first day of the state finals at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, advancing to the quarterfinals with a 21-17, 21-17 third-round victory over Fremd’s Annie Huang.

“On the outside I expected that, but inside I was kind of doubting myself,” Pasko said. “Then I said I’ve got to go out there and play my game. I actually had two decently hard matches.”

Pasko, a 3-4 seed, is just one win away from becoming the first singles player in school history to earn a top-six medal. She takes a 41-2 record into Saturday’s quarterfinal match against unseeded Downers Grove South senior Hayley Stankiewicz.

Stankiewicz upset 5-8 seed Susan Oo of Bradley-Bourbonnais 21-6, 23-21 in the second round and 9-12 seed Lauren Teske of Evanston 22-20, 21-18 in the third round. Pasko beat Stankiewicz in straight sets in their only previous meeting.

“I know how she plays but I’m not overconfident that I can win,” Pasko said.

Overconfidence is not something anyone should have against Pasko, according to Coultas.

“She looked relaxed out there today,” Coultas said. “She overwhelms a lot of the players she faces. She jumps and has mobility like nobody else.”

If she beats Stankiewicz, Pasko’s semifinal opponent would be either Sandburg senior Katie Wagner (46-1), the No. 2 seed who handed Pasko one of her losses, or Hinsdale South junior Andrea McNally, a 5-8 seed.

In the other half of the draw, top-seeded New Trier senior Mari Georgiadis (49-0) plays 9-12 seed Marissa Ripoli of Andrew and 3-4 seed Angela Wu, a Fremd freshman, faces Lincoln-Way Central senior Jessica Glennon, a 5-8 seed.

“(Winning a medal) would be the highlight of my whole high school experience and it would be great for our program,” said Pasko, an A student who plans to be a pre-med major at Aquinas College. “I’ve worked hard all year and I’m really excited.”

Coultas is excited because the Rebels have a chance to record their first top-10 finish. The doubles team of seniors Melissa McNish and Kym Tisder lived up to their 5-8 seed by advancing to the quarterfinals, where they will take on 3-4 seeds Jackie Bland and Anna Marek of Downers Grove North.

“The last two years our program has undergone a dramatic change in the coaching staff and (the players),” Coultas said. “We hadn’t won a conference match in 28 years and this year we won conference and came within a half-point of Andrew at the sectional. People probably didn’t even know we had a badminton team until two years ago. We’re finally a winning team.”

The other doubles quarterfinals will pit top-seeded Buffalo Grove seniors Nell Boyd and Michelle Byjos (34-0) against 9-12 seeds Melissa Carrington and Theresa Lacek of Reavis; 3-4 seeds Bradley Bourbonnais’ Madeline Vaccaro and Neha Chaden take on 5-8 seeds Mary Kate Monahan and Kara Redmer of Willowbrook, and No. 2 seeds Maggie Van Grondelle and Tomoyo Tsurumi of Palatine battle Buffalo Grove’s unseeded duo of Jenny Krewer and Alanna Zawlocki, who ousted 5-8 seeds Wendy Tian and Rebecca Weng of Naperville North 19-21, 21-18, 25-23 in the second round.

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