Girls Tennis: Nasty weather can't stop Timothy Christian's Abygale Ahn, Cassandra Lee from taking third at state

Abygale Ahn’s stunned expression late in Saturday’s Class 1A state third-place match told the story of the unique setting.

The Timothy Christian senior glanced at the ground, briefly looked up into the dark sky and then wiped the tiny, white hail pellets off her clothing.

With 20 mile-per-hour winds and frigid temperatures causing havoc on the final day of the two-class state tournament, Ahn and doubles partner Cassandra Lee were among the final two matches still playing before hail pellets started falling to add another element to combat for the state competitors.

IHSA officials elected to suspend Ahn and Lee’s match against Ottawa’s Ellie Gallagher and Regan O’Fallon. After a lengthy delay, Ahn and Lee claimed a third-place medal with a 6-2, 6-7, 6-1 win. As a team, the Trojans placed 10th with 11 points.

“I’m definitely not used to this,” Ahn said of the weather. “I’ve had some crazy weather but playing with little hail pellets coming down was different. I didn’t know what it was, for knew it couldn’t be snow.”

Lee, a sophomore, acknowledged the conditions were less than ideal.

“I have played in snow and rain, but not weather like this,” she said. “I just tried to focus and play my game and made sure we reach our full potential.”

Ahn and Lee won their first four state matches in two sets before losing in the semifinals to force a rematch with a familiar opponent.

Last season, after a thrilling three-set semifinal match to Anna Lytchakov and Medha Venigalla of Glenwood, Ahn and Lee defeated Ottawa’s Gallagher and Katie McGraw 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the third-place match.

After playing together for another season, Ahn credited her chemistry with Lee for adding another state medal.

“It was a really good season,” she said. “I think compared to last year it’s been our team chemistry. We’ve gotten to really know each other and become good friends. This year we focused on working as a team to reach state.”

There’s still more playoff games left for Ahn. The two-sport athlete now returns to the volleyball team. With most of the volleyball team cheering Ahn and Lee during Saturday’s third-place match, Ahn said she’s excited to help the Trojans in Tuesday’s Class 3A regional match against Roosevelt or Marine Leadership.

Before high school, Ahn was an accomplished tennis player on the USTA circuit. Ahn said she suffered from burnout, but her her decision to play solely high school tennis revitalized her career.

“It’s been a super amazing experience,” she said. “I’ve been playing tennis for a very long time. But coming into high school, it made me really love the sport again, and especially playing with Cassie.”

With two seasons left in her career, Lee hopes to follow in Ahn’s footsteps and become a four-time state qualifier. Lee said she started playing tennis seven years ago on a whim because “it was fun.”

Timothy Christian coach Keith Mills said Ahn and Lee formed a memorable duo in the last two seasons. Earlier this season, Lee captured the Metro Suburban Conference singles championship.

Mills credited Ahn’s unselfish attitude and competitiveness for guiding the Trojans throughout the season.

“It’s pretty incredible that she can play at this level,” he said/ “We had a lot more conflicts with volleyball and tennis, so she played a lot less tennis this year, but she’s still there. There was a lot going on for this year. She’s very competitive and wants to win everything.”