Dukes finish with school-record 23 victories; Fonorow goes 31-8
By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
All in all, it was a highly successful season for the York girls tennis team.
The Dukes broke the program record for victories in a season by going 23-12 in dual matches.
“I was pleased with the way things came together this season for our team,” said York coach Tres Heimann.
The York doubles team of sophomore Melissa Cartis and freshman Gianna Nikoleit qualified for the Class 2A state doubles tournament where they went 1-2 and tied for 33rd place in the field.
“This was a great experience for these two young players,” said Heimann. “They will be eager to return in the future.”
Cartis and Nikoleit were 6-3, 6-0 winners in their first state match against the Lincoln-Way East team of Makenzie Helsel and Cassie Weyker.
“They began the day with a solid win over a Lincoln-Way East doubles team that won its sectional,” Heimann pointed out.
Cartis and Nikoleit then lost 6-1, 6-3 to the Stevenson team of Alyssa Glaser and Bronwyn Heidkamp in the second round and 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 10-8 to the Lockport team of Kaitlyn Graves and Brianna Hillock in the second round of the consolation bracket.
“They ran into a very good Stevenson team in Round 2,” said Heimann. “In their third match, Melissa and Gianna played an extremely close match where a few points made the difference in each set as well as the super-tiebreaker. They both gained valuable experience in this match, which will help them in future years. Had they won this match, they would have been all-state honorable-mention.”
Earlier, York competed in the Class 2A Oak Park-River Forest sectional. York took fourth with 14 points.
Cartis and Nikoleit finished fourth in the doubles tournament out of 20 teams at the sectional and earned the state berth.
“Melissa and Gianna really stepped up in the qualifying round vs. Oak Park-River Forest,” said Heimann. “They adjusted their game plan very well throughout the match and were able to pull through in the first set. They played with a lot of confidence in the second set. They were able to control points throughout the match and that proved to be the difference.”
Cartis and Nikoleit won their first match 6-0, 6-0 over a Morton team and then won the quarterfinal match 7-5, 6-1 over Oak Park-River Forest to earn the state berth. In the semifinals, Cartis and Nikoleit lost 6-2, 6-1 to a Chicago Whitney Young team and then lost 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to another Oak Park-River Forest squad.
York’s other sectional doubles team of Cate Duhig and Jacki Riek won 6-0, 6-1 against a Morton team in their first match and then won 6-2, 6-7, 6-2 against a Chicago Jones team in the second round. Duhig and Riek lost 6-2, 6-2 to a Chicago Whitney Young team in the quarterfinals.
In singles, Aleksina Jovic won her first match by a 6-0, 6-1 count over a Morton player and then lost 6-1, 6-0 to a Proviso East player in the quarterfinals.
Isabella Nicoli also competed in the singles division for the Dukes at the sectional.
For the season, Lauren Fonorow led the Dukes with a 31-8 record. Nikoleit finished with a 29-17 mark, while Cartis ended 28-18. Eva Jacobsthal finished 27-12, while Micki Neidigh and Cristina Gamboa finished with 24-9 marks. Siva Sreedhar went 22-7, while Jovic was 21-21. Riek finished with a 21-20 record. Nicoli had 20 wins, while Duhig had 19 wins. Wendy Zhang finished 19-7, while Elysia Woodward was 19-8. Jess Paist went 17-11, while Rachel Kayman was 16-11. Olivia Brunke had 11 wins.
