Schools
Burr Ridge’s Straub, Petrovic Take Second for Nazareth at State Tennis Meet [VIDEO]
Nazareth Academy's doubles team of Alysa Straub and Lexie Petrovic finished a program-best second at the state meet while Hinsdale South and Burr Ridge players from Saint Ignatius and Benet also competed.
Nazareth Academy junior Alysa Straub and sophomore Lexie Petrovic may have surprised some people at the 2010 girls tennis state tournament when they finished a program-best, all-state fifth in doubles after mostly playing singles during the season.
On Saturday, the Burr Ridge residents managed to top that. They nearly captured the state doubles championship as a No. 5-8 seed.
Straub and Petrovic pushed the defending state champions, juniors Marika Cusick and Caroline Lorenzini, to the limit before being edged 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 at Prospect High School.
The Red Devils won the final two games after Straub and Petrovic (13-2) rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the third set to tie it 3-3 and both teams then broke each other’s serve. Cusick ended the match with an ace.
“[Straub and Petrovic] went into state with the intention of improving their record from last year,” Nazareth coach Melissa Byram said. “It was a great match. And they were so close to winning it all, but they had a great tournament, they fought hard and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
The Roadrunners’ second-place state finish and state-final performance were impressive on several levels. The previous weekend, Straub and Petrovic had lost 6-1, 6-2 to Cusick and Lorenzini (28-1) in the Hinsdale Central Sectional final.
Before Saturday’s final, Cusick and Lorenzini not only hadn’t lost a match since Sept. 6 but they hadn’t even lost a set, nor allowed any team to score more than three points in a game.
Nazareth took a 4-1 lead in the second set. Hinsdale Central rallied to tie 5-5, but Petrovic held her serve and the Roadrunners broke serve to close out the set.
At the 2010 sectional doubles finals, Straub and Petrovic won their first set against Cusick and Lorenzini 6-1 before the Red Devils prevailed in three en route to an undefeated 24-0 state championship season.
“(Straub and Petrovic’s) improvement at the net has improved 10 times from last year. Their consistency is better, everything is just great,” Byram said.
“They worked hard on both of their singles and doubles games in the offseason, in the summer playing USTA tournaments and during the season. This year, we were able to put them as a doubles team more in practices to help our other doubles teams to get better. And it was more preparation for them. The girls have been great to adjust being able from singles players to doubles in the snap of a finger. They know when the team needs them to play singles or play doubles and they’re happy to do either one.”
In 2009, Straub was the Nazareth girls tennis program’s first state qualifier as a freshman with her singles berth. Last year, Straub and Petrovic finished 15-2 while becoming the program’s first players to earn all-state medals with a top-six finish after being seeded No. 9-16.
Over the Roadrunners’ two seasons, their only four doubles losses have come to state champions – Cusick and Lorenzini and 2009 state champions Carolyn Huerth and Allison Murphy from Prairie Ridge in the round of 16 at the 2010 tournament before later beating the Wolves in the consolation backdraw to advance to the fifth-place match.
The constant history making is especially gratifying for Byram, a 2001 Nazareth graduate who tied for ninth in singles at state tennis as a senior. Like last year, fellow 2001 graduate and fourth-place boys tennis state finisher Matt McClure, now a teaching pro, was on hand to congratulate the Roadrunners.
“[McClure] gave me a hug and said, ‘Nazareth history again.’ They’ve put us back on the map from when Matt and I played,” Byram said. “It’s a fabulous accomplishment to achieve and they’ll be looking to get that state title, I think [in 2012]. Alyssa’s made history pretty much every year she played at Naz, and every year she keeps improving. And Lexie, too.”
At the East Suburban Catholic Conference Meet, Petrovic won the No. 1 singles title and Straub was second at No. 2. After winning their first three matches at state with just two games lost, Straub and Petrovic met the ESCC Meet’s No. 1 doubles champions, No. 9-16 seeded Benet seniors Kim Simmons and Madeline Carney. Nazareth prevailed 7-6 (1), 6-3.
Nazareth then defeated two higher seeds -- No. 3-4 seeded New Trier junior Emily Barretta and sophomore Gabby Nixon 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals and No. 2 St. Teresa juniors Tracey Kuhle and Amy Kuhle 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals. The Kuhle twins, who finished fourth, were third at state in 2010 and second in 2009.
“The matches progressively got tougher, but in my mind I knew they had to get past Benet when looked at the draw. That’s where my focus was,” Byram said. “It was a fun match because Benet is in our conference. It was really fun battle.”
There was additional pressure to win because bad weather during Thursday’s opening day resulted in the cancellation of the usual consolation backdraw and double-elimination format. Entries that lost in Saturday’s quarterfinals did get to play for the fifth and sixth-place medals.
The condensed bracket prematurely ended four other state doubles entries with Burr Ridge residents that easily could have done damage.
senior Kim Warpecha of Burr Ridge and junior Emma Adcock tied for ninth last season despite being unseeded, winning six straight matches, all in straight sets, after losing their second match.
Despite that success, the Hornets again did not receive one of the 32 doubles seeds in the 128-team field and faced York senior Torrie Graham and junior Gabby Riek, a No. 9-16 seed, in the first round. The Hornets won the first set and led 4-3 in the second set when the match was suspended Thursday.
When it resumed Friday, the Dukes won the first three games to force a third set and won that in a tiebreaker to prevail 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2). Graham and Riek went on to reach the final 16.
Three other Burr Ridge residents also qualified with their schools in doubles -- Saint Ignatius College Prep (Chicago) juniors Michelle DeMeo and Bethany Lynch and Benet Academy (Lisle) junior Daniella Reyes.
DeMeo and Lynch and Reyes and junior Mary Beth King both were No. 17-32 seeds and reached the final 32 before losing to Kuhle and Kuhle and Cusick and Lorenzini, respectively.
This was the third state trips for DeMeo and Lynch but the first for either in doubles. DeMeo tied for 17th in singles last year as a No. 17-32 seed.
Reyes and King also advanced to state in doubles last year and tied for 13th after being unseeded. In 2009, Reyes played at state as a last-minute substitute for a teammate who had qualified for state in doubles.
State tennis results
Nazareth Academy
No. 5-8 seed Alysa Straub-Alexia Petrovic: Beat Lesslie Sibener-Hannah Resnick (Chicago University) 6-0, 6-0; beat Paige Hutchcraft-Evelyn Mendez (Benton) 6-0, 6-0; beat Jessica Burns-Tess Severin (Edwardsville) 6-2, 6-0; beat No. 9-16 Kim Simmons-Madeline Carney (Benet) 7-6 (1), 6-3; No. 3-4 beat Emily Barretta-Gabby Nixon (New Trier) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1; beat No. 2 Tracey Kuhle-Amy Kuhle (Decatur St. Teresa) 6-2, 6-4; lost to No. 1 Marika Cusick-Caroline Lorenzini (Hinsdale Central) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 (2nd place)
Hinsdale South
Kim Warpecha-Emma Adcock: Lost to No. 9-16 Torrie Graham-Gabby Riek (York) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2)
Saint Ignatius
No. 17-32 Michelle DeMeo-Bethany Lynch: Beat Madison Casad-Marisa Uhls (Mt. Vernon) 6-2, 6-1; beat Catherine Joss-Molly Wallach (Fenwick) 6-1, 6-0; lost to No. 2 Tracey Kuhle-Amy Kuhle (Decatur St. Teresa) 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 (tied for 17th)
Benet Academy
No. 17-32 Daniella Reyes-Mary Beth King: Beat Amelia Napiorkowski-Madi Jurcenko (Kaneland) 6-3, 6-0; beat Lauren Putbrese-Jessica Gaither (Flora); lost to No. 1 Marika Cusick-Caroline Lorenzini (Hinsdale Central) 6-0, 6-3 (tied for 17th)
