The girls’ tennis conference slate continues on a sunny afternoon where the Naperville North Huskies welcome crosstown rivals Naperville Central. The Huskies are able to hang on for a tight 4-3 victory over their crosstown foes. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Great shots start singles action
Starting in one singles, which features an exciting head-to-head between North’s Makaelynn Woller-Li and Kaavya Parameswar, where two talented sophomores square off.
Woller-Li plays in the near court, launching line drive returns, forcing the Redhawk to play defense. When a return drops near the line, the Huskie whips a strong backhand that powers home for the point.
Later in the set, Parameswar finds her footing with the players trading lobs. Woller-Li pops a return over the net, and the Central sophomore pounces, lining a shot back the other way for the point.
Despite facing a tough challenge throughout, Woller-Li is able to overpower her opponent with multiple strong two-handed backhands and a slew of aces, winning in two sets 6-2, 6-4.
At three singles, Sophia Nguyen from Naperville Central goes up against Angela Hu from Naperville North.
Hu is able to snag an early point in a hotly contested opening set, getting a return that has the Redhawk chasing and unable to keep the ball in play.
But Nguyen responds and hangs on to take the first set 7-5. In set two, she pulls away and earns the win thanks to a high bounce on a lob return that evades the reach of Hu. The Redhawk takes the second set 6-2 to get the visitors on the board.
Redhawks get rolling in doubles
Moving on to the doubles action, where Anushka Anand and Shavindya Wijesinghe from Central match up against Emma Eun and Neiva Bandyopadhyay
Bandyopadhyay serves to the Redhawks to get a rally started. Eun makes a couple of returns at the net, but her second attempt comes up short as Central takes the point.
The Redhawks ace their test from the Huskies, winning in straight sets 6-2, 6-1 as Central gains momentum on the team scoreboard.
Another Central victory at one doubles
At one doubles, Naperville North looks to clinch the team win with Zannah Chien and Esther Forster taking on Rina Xu and Ariya Ashok from Central.
In the first set, Chien sends the serve from Xu back over. Xu then goes for a lob, but does not get enough air on the ball as Forster lines a smash through for the point.
Later in the set, Xu is back on the serve as she lines one into the corner and has Forster chasing to keep the ball alive. A second lob makes it over the net, but Ashok is ready and waiting to slam a smash down. The Redhawks take the first set 6-0.
In set two, the red and white duo continues to roll. After a quick rally, Ashok laces a forehand through for the winning point. The Redhawks win another doubles match as the team score moves to 3-3.
It all comes down to the final match still competing, the two singles showdown between Grace Kistler from Naperville Central and Anda Elezi from Naperville North.
Lots of lengthy rallies in this matchup, with each player searching for an edge. Elezi is able to build a lead in the first set thanks to a strong forehand, eventually winning 7-5.
Kistler battles back as she seizes control and puts her opponent on her heels. She charges the net and drops a well-placed backhand that Elezi is unable to reach to even the second set and four games each.
Elezi helps the Huskies sneak past the Redhawks
Playing in the near court, Elezi hopes to put the victory away. She patiently awaits a lofted return, and unloads a rocket forehand to the corner that gets through. The Huskie takes the second set 6-4. Naperville North wins a thrilling edition of the crosstown classic 4-3.
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