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40 | September 21, 2017 | The New Lenox Patriot Sports
newlenoxpatriot.com
Girls tennis
Knights place third at invite in tuneup for sectional
Randy Whalen
Freelance Reporter
With the conference and sectional
tennis meets on the horizon, the
Lincoln-Way Central girls tennis
team is looking to continue to improve
in a very competitive season.
The Knights certainly had some
good performances, especially by
their singles players, as they placed
third in the Sandburg Girls Tennis
Invite which was held on Saturday,
Sept. 16, in Orland Park.
The invite included three other
teams that will be in the same sectional
as Central.
“We’ve had a tough schedule
to start off the season,” Central
coach Sue Schneider said. “But
that shows our weaknesses and
what we have to work on. Our top
singles players are strong.”
Through last weekend, the
Knights (7-6 overall, 2-0 in the
SouthWest Suburban Red) were
tied with Stagg for first place in
their division of the SWSC. If the
standings of the Sandburg Invite
are an indication, then Central has
a good chance to capture it this
season. Since the inception of the
SWSC in 2005, the Knights have
never won the conference.
Last weekend they almost
matched Lincoln-Way East for second
at the invite. East has moved
from the Red to the Blue Division
of the SWSC this season leaving
the door open for Central.
Thanks to an epic 7-6, 7-5 win
by East senior Rachel Schlike in a
third place match at second singles,
the Griffins finished with a total of
19 points and were in second place
by themselves. If she would have
lost the Griffins would have tied
for second with Central, which
placed third (18 points). The Sandburg
Blue team, one of two that
the Eagles entered, won three of
the four titles — including senior
Agnes Florczyk defeating Knight
sophomore Kiana Sikich 6-1, 6-2
for the second singles title, to finish
first with 29 total points. The
Sandburg Gold team (14 points)
placed fourth.
Lemont (12 points) was fifth and
No. 1 doubles player Natalie Spudic serves the ball. The Knights placed
third at the tournament.
Andrew (11 points) and Shepard
(11 points) tied for sixth. Providence
(10 points) was eighth, followed
by Marist (8 points), Stagg
(7 points), Mother McAuley (4
points) and Reavis (3 points)
rounded out the 12 team field.
Still, Sikich getting to the title
match helped show the depth of
the Knights singles players. She
defeated Schlike 6-1, 6-1 in the
semifinals.
“I thought I played pretty good,”
Sikich said. “I was a little tired at
the end, but did pretty well overall.
I want to be more consistent the
rest of the season. My goal is to get
to state.”
That’s also the goal of Central’s
top singles player, Emma Rimkunas.
Now a sophomore, she went to
state last season as a freshman.
“I’ve done pretty well,” Rimkunas
said of this season. “I feel
I’ve done better than last year. I’ve
worked a lot on my serve. Coming
in [and being the top singles player
as a freshman] was a lot to take in
at first. But I feel like we have a
better team bond this year.”
In the Invite, Rimkunas fell to
Providence senior Sophie Davis
6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals. But
bounced back to beat Andrew
sophomore Lily Darman 6-2, 6-1
in the third place match. In the No.
1 singles title match, Sandburg junior
Anna Loureiro remained undefeated
on the season with a 6-0,
6-3 win over Davis.
Central travels to Andrew for a
key SWSC Red match on Tuesday,
Sept. 26, at 4:30 p.m.
“No, I hadn’t played her, Rimkunas
said of facing a conference opponent
in Darmen. “But it’s crazy
how fast the [conference meet] is
coming up. We have a lot of people
in our conference also playing in
our sectional.”
In first doubles at the invite,
Central seniors Kaitlyn Blake and
Natalie Spudic lost 10-5 in a super
tiebreaker to Marist senior Caitlyn
Foggie and sophomore Bella Rabianski
in the quarterfinals. They
won their next two matches, including
toppling the Andrew duo of
juniors Samantha Guzik and Haley
Kamholz 6-1, 6-2 for fifth place.
Shepard seniors Rachel Habbal
and Brooke Zielke defeated East
seniors Makenzie Helsel and Cassandra
Weyker 6-3, 6-2 in the final.
At No. 2 doubles, Knight senior
Danielle Mikos and freshman
Micaela Cesta also lost a quarterfinal
tiebreaker, this one was 6-4
to Providence senior Abby Bruno
and junior Olivia Goodwin. Mikos
and Cesta eventually placed sixth
with a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Marist
sophomore Katarina Balchunasin
and senior Kaitlyn Meyer in the
Kiana Sikich gears up for a serve Saturday, Sept. 16, during the
Sandburg Invitational in Orland Park. photos by geoff Stellfox/22nd
Century Media
fifth place match.
The Sandburg Blue team of Mia
Strolia and Konstance Delis defeated
the Sandburg Gold team of
senior Angie Rooks and junior Celanie
Peng 6-1, 6-1 for the second
doubles title.
Central was edged by 4-3 in a
SWSC dual meet match against perennial
power Homewood-Flossmoor
on Sept. 5 in Flossmoor. But
a good sign for the Knights was
they won the top singles matches.
“Emma is very focused and driven,”
Schneider said of Rimkunas.
“She’s very competitive and knows
how to hold her own. Her goal this
year is to get a couple of wins at
state. For Kiana [Sikich], she’s
been playing well and her goal is
also to get to state.”
The Knights travel to Palos Hill
for a key SWSC Red match on
Thursday, Sept. 21 at 4:30 p.m.
This Saturday, Sept. 23, starting at
8 a.m., they travel down the road
to participate in the Lincoln-Way
West Invite.
All three Lincoln-Way schools,
along with Homewood-Flossmoor,
Providence and the host
Thunderbolts, with be at the Andrew
Sectional - which will be
held on Oct. 14.