With the postseason on the horizon for girls tennis, the DuPage Valley Conference tournament is in full swing at Waubonsie Valley. The Warriors welcome the conference’s top performers for day two of action. The Neuqua Valley Wildcats are able to hold off the competition, earning a second straight DVC title. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Neuqua Valley racks up the points in singles play
Starting with the third-place match in two singles between Grace Qu from Neuqua Valley and Huskie Angela Hu. Qu goes for a nice backhand return. She gets the upper hand by dropping a lob just over the net that spins and drops back down for the point. Qu wins third to help the Wildcats’ cause
This place in one singles features an intriguing matchup between Anda Elezi of Naperville North and Sahana Dinesh of Waubonsie Valley. The Huskie gets off to a good start with a backhand return giving a point to Elezi.
Later in the match, Dinesh evens the score by overpowering Elezi’s return as a great rally ensues, resulting in a backhand to the back corner and down in bounds as the Warrior earns a point. But the third-place medal goes to Anda Elezi, who sends a forehand return to Dinesh the slice low. The Warrior gets a racquet on the ball but can’t get any height on her return as it falls short of the net.
We move on to the championship round in two singles with Redhawk Grace Kistler and Waubonsie Valley’s Jaya Kumar. Kistler defeated Angela Hu in the semis while Kumar took down Grace Qu in a tiebreaker. Kumar sends her serve over. Kistler responds with oe a nice return for a point that lands near the back line. Kistler goes on to win her championship match for Naperville Central.
Myrna Jama from Waubonsie Valley won the three singles championship over Sophia Nguyen from Naperville Central in three sets.
Up next is the one singles championship with Wildcat Jennifer Tang and Mustang Lily Tang. Both opponents get off to a good start with back-and-forth returns. However, Jennifer Tang slams a point near the back line that has her opponent lunging back on her heels as the Wildcat takes the lead. The rest of the match sees Jennifer Tang add the finishing touches to her first-place performance, putting the Wildcats on the brink of another DVC championship.
Rao and Yalamati take the one doubles title
Waubonsie Valley earns a championship in one doubles with Devi Rao and Aditi Yalamati winning the title over Leah Liu and Smitha Narayana from Metea Valley 6-5, 6-4.
The Huskies show their doubles depth
Moving on to the three doubles championships with Wildcats Katarina Egelja and Pragathi Palavesam against Naperville North’s Catelyn Ziegler and Ramya Raghupathi. The Wildcats get on the board with Palavesam hitting back to the other side, forcing a Huskie to return into the net for a Wildcat point.
Later in the match, the Huskies find their rhythm; Ziegler hits a monster lefty smash that just gets a piece of the line for the point. Naperville North picks up another win in three doubles to stay in the hunt for the team championship.
The final match is at two doubles between Huskies Neiva Bandyopadhyay and Emma Eun against Mustangs Tvisha Shah and Katherine Madden. Emma Eun gets North on the board with a nice cross-court return that gets down for the point. Metea responds with a forehand return from Madden, which she sends down the left sideline for a Mustang point.
Later in the match, Tvisha Shah gets a point for the Mustangs for a nice forehand through Huskie territory.
The Huskies are not giving up yet; Madden serves in the second set to get the action started. Shah hits a return to Eun, who rapidly sends the ball back past the Mustangs for a point.
It’s match point for North, who lead 5-4 in the second set. Huskie Neiva Bandyopadhyay goes for the closing return for North that she slams through the defense. The Huskies win two doubles, adding to their total.
Neuqua Valley holds off the rest to win the DVC title
Despite a strong tournament performance, Naperville North places 2nd in the overall DVC standings. Neuqua Valley takes home the DVC championship with an overall score of 37.5 thanks to big wins throughout the regular season and a good showing in the tourney. Metea Valley wraps up the third-place spot just ahead of Waubonsie Valley.
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