Balls fly with sunny skies for post-season tennis, where the Naperville North 2A sectional is underway. Singles and doubles athletes from Naperville North, Naperville Central, Downers Grove North and South are all vying for the title of individual and team sectional champions. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
The Redhawks secure a great start
A flock of Redhawks runs the third-place doubles court. Rina Xu and Grace Kistler face off against their teammates Shavi Wijesinghe and Anushka Anand. The friendly rivals are playing for bragging rights as their tickets to state have already been punched.
In the beginning stages of the match, a rally between Xu and Wijesinghe ensues. Feeling left out, Anand gets in on the action and lays a short backhand for the point.
Later, another back-and-forth effort takes place with everyone involved. Anand had the layup earlier; now Wijesinghe goes long, soaring her own backhand over the head of Kistler and inbounds. A little dance to top things off.
Xu shows off her power. Wijesinghe’s shot is a little too soft; Xu takes advantage and smashes it towards Anand, who can’t react in time to return it. Xu and Kistler go up three sets to two. Eventually, Wijesinghe and Anand take back the first-set lead four to three before the match ultimately retires. Wijesinghe and Anand take the third-place finish.
Downers Grove rivals battle for the doubles championship. Olivia Tan and Danielle Wilinski take home the title for Downers Grove North, defeating the Downers South pair of Gianna Caruso and Aurija Ostapenko, 7-5 and 6-2.
Naperville North wins sectionals
In the third-place singles contest, Kaavya Parameswar of Central plays against Makaelynn Woller-Li of North. Early on, Woller-Li receives the ball on her forehand side and sends a screamer down the line out of reach for her opponent. Parameswar, though, is the one who’s victorious after a marathon 7-5 opening set win. The Redhawk sophomore would continue her momentum into the second as she doesn’t drop a game and claims the third-place medal, avenging her regular season defeat at the hands of Woller-Li.
Naperville North is one of the representatives in the singles final. Fresh off a win over Parameswar in the semis, Huskie Anda Elezi takes the court across from Downers South’s Lily David. The Huskie junior moves David to her right just enough that she’s able to squeak a forehand winner past the heart of her racket. Unfortunately from there, things don’t quite go Elezi’s way, as she falls in straight sets 6-0, 6-0. The number one seed in the sectional, Lily David, earns the singles crown!
But Elezi’s semifinal win ends up being the difference for her team as the Naperville North Huskies win their 2A team sectional championship by only two points! A pair of squads are tied for second behind them with 20 points: the Naperville Central Redhawks and the Downers Grove South Mustangs.
For more prep sports highlights and community sports, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page and follow us on Twitter and Instagram!
