The OPRF girls tennis team finished fifth at the West Suburban (Silver) Conference Championships last weekend. The bright spot for the Huskies came with the second place finish in the first doubles bracket by sophomore Tess Trinka and senior Emma Forman.
“Although we finished lower than we had hoped, we did finish somewhere I expected. I was very excited about our first doubles team’s second place finish and also the second place finish by [freshman] Taylor Arends,” said OPRF head coach Fred Galluzzo after the matches.
Trinka and Forman began the day with a dominating 6-0, 6-0 straight sets victory over Proviso West. Following their first-match win, the duo faced-off against Glenbard West. They fell in the first set 5-7, but responded with a rousing comeback in the final two sets to advance to the final. Trinka and Forman were unable to continue the momentum after losing in straight sets to a talented Hinsdale Central duo.
“Tess and Emma competed well in a tough draw against difficult competition in the first doubles bracket,” said Galluzzo. “They held their own against the Hinsdale Central team, but unfortunately fell a bit short.”
In the singles brackets, the Huskies received a stellar performance by standout freshman Taylor Arends, who first defeated Proviso West’s Jasmin Cervantes in straight sets and then got past Glenbard West’s Ali Bush after losing the first set. Arends reached the final match in the second singles bracket at Keystone Park, but was dispatched by Hinsdale Central’s Tiffany Chen 6-0, 6-2 in straight sets.
In the first and third singles brackets, both Katarina Vasic and Samantha Schafer finished third in their respective categories. Vasic defeated York’s Annie Rivera before losing out to Hinsdale’s Rugile Valiunaite in the semifinal.
Schafer also finished third in her bracket, defeating York’s Angela Averinos in her first match, only to lose in the semifinal to Hinsdale’s Alex Solovyev.
The Huskies’ second, third, and fourth doubles teams all finished fifth, short of what Galluzzo had hoped to see.
“It was disappointing not to have those teams finish higher, but things do not always go according to plan,” he said.
Hinsdale Central won the tournament.
OPRF now turns its attention to hosting the IHSA Sectional beginning on Friday and Saturday.