Dukes tie for third at West Suburban Conference Silver tournament.
By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
It’s been a successful couple of weeks for the York girls tennis team.
At the recent Class 2A Oak Park-River Forest sectional, the York doubles team of Melissa Cartis and Gianna Nikoleit finished fourth and qualified for this weekend’s Class 2A state finals meet.
Cartis and Nikoleit won their first match 6-1, 6-2 over Morton, and won their second match 6-5, 6-1 over Oak Park-River Forest. They lost 6-2, 6-1 to Chicago Whitney Young in the semifinals and lost 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to another Oak Park-River Forest team in the third-place match.
The Dukes finished fourth as a team in the sectional with 14 points.
Earlier, the Dukes tied for third place with Lyons Township at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division tournament at Hinsdale Central.
York finished with 22 points behind champion Hinsdale Central (39 points) and Glenbard West (38 points).
“We played a lot of good tennis,” said York coach Tres Heimann. “You always feel good when you outperform the points you earn in the regular season at the conference tournament. It shows the girls are making good strides as a team.”
Heimann was referring to York finishing with 22 points at the tournament as opposed to 20 points during the WSC Silver dual-match portion of the schedule.
York also won six of its first seven first-round matches in the tournament.
The Dukes had conference medalists at two flights. Lauren Fonorow (31-8) and Eva Jacobsthal (27-12) at No. 3 doubles and Cristina Gamboa (24-9) and Micki Neidigh (24-9) at No. 4 doubles.
“These four players have been extremely solid throughout the season and have been a big strength in our lineup,” said Heimann.
York’s JV 2 team finished 22-3 overall and won the WSC Silver title, completing the season with a 5-1 win over Hinsdale Central earlier this month. The 22 wins was the most at that level in program history.
York’s JV 1 team went 27-2 and took second in the conference behind Hinsdale Central. The Dukes finished a point behind the Red Devils at the conference tournament. That also was the most dual wins at that level in program history.
The Dukes’ varsity was 23-11 and also set a new record for most wins in a single season in program history.
“Each of these levels had its most successful season winning the most dual matches in program history on its respective level,” Heimann pointed out.
At the varsity tournament, Aleksina Jovic took fourth at No.1 singles. She won her first match 6-0, 6-1 over Oak Park-River Forest and lost in the semifinals to Hinsdale Central and in the third-place match to Lyons Township.
Isabella Nicoli finished fourth at No. 2 singles. She won her first match 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 over Dwoners Grove North. Nicoli dropped a match and then lost to Lyons Township in the third-place match.
Siva Sreedhar also was fourth at No. 3 singles. She won her first match 6-2, 4-6, (10-6) and then lost a decision to Glenbard West and then one to Lyons Township in the third-palce contest.
In doubles, Cartis and Nikoleit took fourth at the No. 1 position. They won their first match 6-4, 6-2 over Lyons Township and then dropped decisions in the semifinals and third-place match.
Cate Duhig and Jacki Riek were fifth at No. 2 doubles. They lost to Lyons Township in their opener and then received a bye in their second match before scoring a 3-6, 6-3 (10-7) win in the fifth-place match against Downers Grove North.
Fonorow and Jacobsthal were third at No. 3 doubles. They won 6-1, 6-1 over Lyons Township and then lost to Hinsdale Central in the semifinals before coming back to defeat Oak Park-River Forest 6-0, 6-3 in the third-place match.
Gamboa and Neidigh were third at No. 4 doubles. They won 6-2, 6-2 against Oak Park-River forest before losing to Glenbard West in the semifinals. Gamboa and Neidigh won the third-place match 1-6, 6-1, (10-6).
Through the conference tournament, Fonorow was tops on the team with a 31-8 mark, while Jacobsthal was 27-12. Nikoleit was 25-15, while Neidigh was 24-9, as was Gamboa. Cartis was 23-17 and Sreedhar was 22-7. Wendy Zhang was 19-7, while Elysia Woodward was 19-8. Jovic, Nicoli and Riek each had 19 wins. Duhig had 17 wins. Jess Paist also had 17 wins (17-11), while Rachel Kayman was 16-11. Olivia Brunke had 11 wins.
