Area Girls Tennis Programs Find Success

Area Girls Tennis

We’ll detail the level of success our area girls tennis programs have had in this Fast Facts, presented by BMO Harris Bank.

The Naperville area has had many great girls tennis teams and players over the years. But since the IHSA state tournament began in 1972, two local programs have stood out amongst the rest at the state meet.

Benet Academy

Benet Academy was home to the area’s first singles state champion in 1980 when Jane Jarosz won the title, and had the first top ten team finish by taking 10^th place in 1985. The Redwings also finished 9^th as a team in 2000 and 6^th in 2010.

When the girls tennis tournament split into class 1A and 2A in 2016, the Redwings immediately took advantage by winning the 1A state championship that same season. A year ago in 2019, Benet was back in the 1A tournament. The team brought home the state runner up trophy thanks to the area’s first ever doubles state champs in Kendall Schrader and Kaitlyn Lee.

Naperville Central

The other school to smash the competition at state is Naperville Central. The Redhawks rattled off a great run beginning with a 4^th place finish in 1991, 6^th place in 1992 and 9^th place in 1994. The pinnacle was a state championship performance in 1993.

Central legend Elizabeth Lumpkin won three straight singles championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002 under longtime head coach Don Bonet as the Redhawks took 8^th place in ‘01 and 4^th in ‘02.

Four straight top ten state finishes from 2012-2015 thanks to the strong play of Tiffany Chen. The 2013 state singles champion helped NC to 7^th place in 2012, 5^th in 2013, 6^th in 2014 and 7^th in 2015.

Just like Benet Academy, Naperville Central also returned to the top ten team rankings in 2019 under 2^nd year coach Alyssa Girgis, finishing in 9^th place in class 2A a year ago.