After winning the IHSA Class 1A girls tennis singles championship in 2022, Fenwick High School senior Lily Brecknock also enjoyed an excellent run at this year’s Class 2A finals, hosted by Hersey, Oct. 24-26, finishing third.
“As a senior this year, I wanted to finish my last season in the best way possible,” said Brecknock, who went 30-5 this fall. “I tried to play my best tennis and was surrounded by the support of my family, friends, and coaches along the way which made it even more special.”
With the tournament played on various sites, Brecknock was accompanied by assistant coach Mary Trifilio. She won all three matches on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals: 6-0, 6-2 over Lake Zurich’s Lora Bolanov; 6-0, 6-4 over Hinsdale Central’s Kotryna Tomas; and 6-1, 7-5 over Lydia Parranto of Waubonsie Valley.
On Friday in the quarterfinals, Brecknock defeated Sandburg’s Estela Loureiro 7-5, 6-4. However, she lost 1-6, 7-6, 1-6 in the semifinals to eventual 2A champion Jessica Kovalcik of Plainfield North.
But in the third-place match on Saturday, Brecknock bounced back to defeat Lake Zurich’s Katrine Bolanov 6-4, 5-7, 6-0.
“Lily just had a tremendous tournament,” said Fenwick coach Ron Rogala. “Each match got progressively more challenging, but just great tennis. I’m so proud of her.”
In doubles, senior Caroline Gruber and sophomore Emma Louderback lost their first-round match to eventual runner-ups Abby Ma and Sophia Shiyakhta of Stevenson 0-6, 0-6, but bounced back in the first consolation match to defeat Marist’s Claire Neely and Natalie Bridgeman 6-1, 6-0.
“They didn’t let [the Stevenson loss] bother them,” Rogala said. “They took advantage of their opportunity, which was excellent.”
Although Gruber and Louderback lost the next consolation match to Phoebe Silver and Nastia Belova of Lake Forest 6-7 (2-7), 0-6, Rogala thought they had an excellent tournament and season.
“Without their point, I don’t think we finish ninth [in the team standings],” he said as Fenwick finished with 12 points. “For two girls who had not played together, they were outstanding this season.
“I was truly blessed with senior leadership, girls who had a lot of success,” Rogala added in his debut season assessment. “It was a total effort, and I thought the team had a terrific year.”
OPRF
In singles, sophomore Lucy Stein (33-4) won her three matches on Thursday to reach Friday’s quarterfinals: 6-1, 6-0 over Niles West’s Emma Velimirovic; 6-0, 6-0 over West Aurora’s Elena Grmusa; and 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 over Glenbrook North’s Katelyn Wu.
On Friday, Stein lost her quarterfinal to Katrine Bolanov 6-1, 3-6, 4-6 to fall into the consolation quarterfinals.
“Lucy won the first set easily, [Bolanov] was way off,” said OPRF coach Fred Galluzzo. “She had an opportunity to get ahead 3-2 in the second set but didn’t close it, and that made for a long slog. The third was up in the air, lot of tough points. At 4-4, Lucy was up 30-15 but couldn’t get separation and [Bolanov] rallied.”
She rebounded to defeat Lane Tech’s Maya Kasza 4-6, 6-1, 10-5 (tiebreaker), but lost her next match to New Trier’s Ingrid Fielder 3-6, 2-6.
“It was an improvement from last year,” Galluzzo said. “Couple less unforced errors, Lucy moves on. But she had a nice run and [with two years left] gets a couple more cracks at it.”
OPRF had two state-qualifying doubles teams. Seniors Alice Cadwell and Maeve Marzec lost their first match 5-7, 6-4, 6-10 (tiebreaker) to Highland Park’s Mira Schmidt and Gabrielle Gold, but responded with consecutive victories in the consolation round: 6-2, 6-2 over Andrew’s Emma Karlstedt and Emma Lasecki, then 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 over Metea Valley’s Sophia Cahue and Sarina Saleem. Cadwell and Marzec’s run ended with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-10 (tiebreaker) loss to Fremd’s Stella Lee and Siya Mistry.
The Huskies’ other doubles unit, seniors Anika Gupta and Sophie Welch, lost their opening match to Maine South’s Emma Militaru and Kristina Nikolova 6-7 (5-7), 3-6. After winning their first consolation match 6-1, 6-1 over Mother McAuley’s Nora Wilson and Kaitlin Zoller, Gupta and Welch fell to Barrington’s Shriya Ramesh and Courtney Croll 6-7 (5-7), 3-6.
“It’s certainly one of our better seasons,” Galluzzo said of OPRF, which finished tied for 12th in the standings with 10 points. “It was definitely a fun year.”