Last year, Fenwick High School’s Lily Brecknock, then a sophomore, won the IHSA Class 1A Timothy Christian sectional singles title en route to winning the state championship.
On Oct. 16 at the rain-delayed Class 2A Hinsdale Central sectional, Brecknock, the top seed, again found herself in the title match, this time against #2 C.J. Coan of York. However, she wasn’t able to repeat as champion, losing 5-7, 6-7 (4-7 in the tiebreaker).
In her Oct. 14 matches, Brecknock posted a pair of shutouts: Lillian Duran of Morton 6-0, 6-0 in the second round, then 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals against Olivia Dlugi of Argo. In the semifinals, she defeated Kotryna Tomas of Hinsdale Central 6-2, 6-3.
Brecknock helped lead Fenwick to a third-place finish in the team standings with 18 points. The host Red Devils won the title with 28 points, followed by West Suburban Conference Silver Division rival York with 23.
Fenwick also qualified its’ #1 doubles team of senior Trinity Hardin and junior Megan Trifilio for the state finals, which will be held Oct. 19-21 in Buffalo Grove.
The duo, after a bye, blanked Gabriela Dabrowski and Angela Zatioka of Argo 6-0, 6-0 in the second round, then rolled past Lyons Township’s MiaMia Graziano and Ginny Gibbs 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
Hardin and Trifilio lost in the semifinals 1-6, 0-6 to eventual champions Abigail Gambia and Sydney Shuster of Hinsdale Central, then dropped the third-place match 2-6, 3-6 to York’s Lindsey White and Josie Coan. However, they finished among the top four doubles teams at the sectional, who advanced – along with the top four singles players – Downstate.
Fenwick’s #2 singles player, freshman Emma Louderback, won her second-round match after a bye, 6-2, 6-0 over Argo’s Lana Murphy, but lost her quarterfinal match 0-6, 0-6 to C.J. Coan.
The Friars’ #2 doubles pair of juniors Rachel Abraham and Caroline Gruber lost 0-6, 0-6 in the second round to Lauren Panveno and Calista Chang of Hinsdale Central.
OPRF Freshman Goes Downstate
Oak Park and River Forest High School placed fourth at Hinsdale Central with 15 points and qualified freshman Lucy Stein in #1 singles for the state finals.
After a first-round bye, Stein notched a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Soleil Kaciuba of Riverside-Brookfield in the second round, then defeated Hinsdale Central’s Asha Sarai 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Stein lost to C.J. Coan 0-6, 4-6, but bounced back in the third-place match with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Tomas.
“Lucy is playing as well as she has all season,” said OPRF coach Fred Galluzzo. “The draw will be tough, but she will play hard every time out. That’s the only way she knows how to play.”
The Huskies’ #2 singles player, junior Maeve Marzec, defeated York’s Clare Hewitt 6-2, 6-1 in the second round, but lost to Tomas in the quarterfinals 1-6, 4-6.
OPRF’s top doubles pair of senior Kathryn Meister and junior Anika Gupta scored a 6-0, 6-1 second-round victory over Argo’s Abigail and Julia Grenier, but fell short of qualifying downstate, losing in the quarterfinals 0-6, 1-6 to White and Josie Coan.
Juniors Alice Cadwell and Sophie Welch, the Huskies’ #2 unit, lost 4-6, 6-7 (3-7 in tiebreaker) to Graziano and Gibbs in the second round.