The girls’ tennis season is heating up as Benet Academy returns to Beren’s Park to compete in the 2A York Sectional. Everyone competing on day two has already qualified for the state tournament. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
The Tigers get off to a strong start
It’s all Wheaton Warrenville South in the singles championship as teammates square off with freshman Isha Salgia taking on senior Anna Ittersagen.
Ittersagen’s serve keeps Salgia moving as the two trade returns until Salgia can’t sustain the rally.
After Salgia serves, the freshman shows off a nice touch on the return and plays it short for the point. Salgia to take both sets, 6-2, 6-1, to win the singles sectional title.
Moving over to the doubles semifinals, Benet’s Lily Lopatka and Julia Kastellic take on Wheaton Warrenville South’s Kelsey Clousing and Priya Rozanski. The winner of this match will take on Tigers Reese and Riley Lepsi in the doubles championship match.
Redwing Julia Kastellic and Tiger Kelsey Clousing rally from the back row as Lily Lopatka puts an end to the exchange with a high shot for the red and white point.
Later on, Lopatka and Clousing rally on the move from the back row. Priya Rozanski reaches down low to keep the play alive for the Tigers, which Kastellic responds to with a rapid return of her own before Clousing’s return is out of Kastellic’s reach for the point. Priya Rozanski and Kelsey Clousing secure the two-set victory over Lily Lopatka and Julia Kastellic: 6-2, 6-4.
Wheaton Warrenville South wins doubles sectional championship
It’s another all-Tiger championship matchup, this time in the doubles bracket as sisters Reese and Riley Lepsi take on Priya Rozanski and Kelsey Clousing. The Lepsi’s enter the championship match after their 6-0 victory in both sets over Redwings Kate Nagle and Anna Jones.
Reese Lepsi serves in the near court. Reese Lepsi and Clousing trade returns as Riley Lepsi steps in front of the return and fires her shot out of Priya Rozanski’s reach for the point.
Another rally breaks out between Reese Lepsi and Clousing from the back row as the two stay on the move. Riley Lepsi keeps the rally alive as Priya Rozanski’s return goes high into the air, and Reese follows it up with a nice shot in the corner for the point. The Wheaton South sisters go on to win the doubles sectional championship, scoring 6-0 in both sets.
Benet qualifies for state
In the third-place match, Redwing senior Lily Lopatka and partner Julia Kastellic take on teammates Anna Jones and Kate Nagle.
Following Jones’s serve, Julia Kastellic’s return goes high into the air as Kate Nagle’s return is out of Kastellic’s reach for the point.
Anna Jones and Nagle target Kastellic on the back row while the Redwing junior keeps the rally alive before playing it short for the point.
Later, Anna Jones’s shot goes in between Kastellic and Lopatka for a point.
Jones and Lopatka go back and forth later in the set. Lopatka puts an end to the rally as her shot lands in the back row for the point.
Lily Lopatka and Julia Kastellic get the two-set victory over Anna Jones and Kate Nagle, 6-2, 6-4, to secure the third-place medal.
Wheaton Warrenville South makes it back-to-back sectional titles with 36 points. Both York and Benet finish with 17 points. Kastellic, Lopatka, Jones, and Nagle are all headed to the state tournament to represent the Wings.
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