High school girls tennis: 2017 Northwest Herald All-Area team

First team

Singles

Bethany Marshall

Cary-Grove., jr.

Marshall won the Fox Valley Conference singles title, defeating South’s Skylar Olsen in the final match. She was one of only two FVC singles players to qualify for the Class 2A state finals. She lost her first two matches at the state finals.

Skylar Olsen

Crystal Lake South, jr.

Olsen was the FVC singles runner-up. She fell one win shy of qualifying for the state finals in a tough Class 2A Stevenson Sectional. The Gators took second as a team at the FVC tournament.

Aly Cullotta

Woodstock North, so.

Cullotta won the Kishwaukee River Conference singles title. A week later, she finished fourth in her Class 1A sectional, but the three players ahead of her took second, third and sixth, respectively, in the 1A state finals. Fourth was good enough to qualify for state, where Cullotta went 3-2, losing in the second round.

Doubles

Haley Steinkamp and Kylie Skepnek

Jacobs, sr./sr.

Steinkamp and Skepnek won the FVC doubles title and won the Class 2A Lake Park Sectional doubles title. The Golden Eagles won the conference regular season and tournament titles. Steinkamp and Skepnek went 2-2 at the state finals. The duo earned Northwest Herald Girls Tennis Players of the Year.

Elizabeth Barrett and Katie Sowa

Cary-Grove, sr./sr.

The Trojans’ top doubles pair finished fourth in the conference tournament, but went on to qualify for state out of the Class 2A Stevenson Sectional. They went 0-2 at the state finals.

Claire Atkinson and Julia Kopfman

Crystal Lake South, sr./sr.

Atkinson and Kopfman finished second in the FVC behind Steinkamp and Skepnek. They helped the Gators take second as a team. At the Class 2A Stevenson Sectional, Atkinson and Kopfman lost a tough three-set match to Barrett and Sowa in the state qualifying match.

Alex Landman and Kayley Roche

Huntley, sr./sr.

Huntley’s top doubles pair finished third at the FVC tournament. At the Class 2A Harlem Sectional, Landman and Roche took second in the doubles bracket and helped the Red Raiders win their first sectional team title in school history. They went 0-2 at the state finals.

Second team

Singles

Kaitlyn Theil, Prairie Ridge, jr.

Lindsay Cunningham, Jacobs, so.

Lauren Schoen, Crystal Lake South, sr.

Doubles

Ramya Nissankula and Brianna Japkowski, Jacobs, jr./jr.

Abbie Cittadino and Kamile Aleksaite, Johnsburg, jr./so.

Macy Biggam and Maddie Ljunggren, Prairie Ridge, so./jr.

Hannah Schuetzle and Sarah Schuetzle, Crystal Lake South, so./so.

Honorable mention

Alina Krembuszewski and Karina Los, Cary-Grove, so./so.

Kaitlin Warner, Cary-Grove, so.

Cortney Iden and Kyleigh Kessler, Crystal Lake Central, sr./jr.

Alex Letto and Lainey Brotan, Crystal Lake Central, sr., sr.

Samia Desai, Huntley, sr.

Allison Simons and Merritt Whiteside, Huntley, sr./sr.

Nikole Gilman, Jacobs, sr.

Rebecca Mudge, Jacobs, jr.

Amber Seong and Paige Shiakallis, Jacobs, sr./jr.

Lauren Hendrixson, Johnsburg, so.

Samantha Knutilla, Johnsburg, so.

Katie Littner and Stephanie Villaceran, Marian Central, sr., sr.

Ela Kusmierz, Prairie Ridge, so.

Faith Vela and Rachel Packard, Woodstock North, sr., sr.