High school girls tennis: Huntley wins FVC tourney, ends Jacobs' title streak

There is no question that Jacobs has several of the Fox Valley Conference’s best girls tennis players.

Results bore that out Saturday as the Golden Eagles won Nos. 1 and 2 singles with Chloe Siegfort and Isha Desai, and took No. 1 doubles with Kaya Trumbo and Lara Santa Ines.

All were repeat champions at the FVC Girls Tennis Tournament, although in different brackets than last year.

But Huntley held the edge in overall depth, qualifying for the championships in six of the seven brackets, and winning three to wrest first place from three-time defending champion Jacobs.

The Red Raiders, who won titles at No. 3 singles and Nos. 3 and 4 doubles, finished with 56 points in the tournament. Crystal Lake Central (46) was second and Jacobs (43) was third.

“It was an incredible day,” Huntley coach Barry Wells said after the Red Raiders’ first FVC girls title. “There are so many positives to take away. They got the job done today.”

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, brackets were played at the four District 155 high schools. Cary-Grove hosted No. 1 singles and doubles, Crystal Lake South had the No. 2s, Crystal Lake Central had the No. 3s and Prairie Ridge had the No. 4 doubles.

Jacobs sophomore Chloe Siegfort repeated as No. 1 singles champion, beating Huntley’s Ruhi Gulati, 6-3, 6-1.

“Ruhi’s a great player. I just have to keep my composure well and continue to move her around,” Siegfort said. “I just tried to keep moving her and throw in a couple slices, mix up the shots I was hitting instead of hitting everything deep. It’s a really great honor. I’m excited to be a champion again.”

Gulati lost to Siegfort, 6-1, 6-0, in an earlier dual match and was pleased with her second-place effort. The first set featured a lot of tough back-and-forth points.

“It was the best match I’ve played all season,” Gulati said. “This is definitely a huge improvement. I had her scared in the first set, and I think in the second I played really well. I hit a lot of winners on her and I normally don’t do that. Today was really fun.”

Desai won the No. 1 doubles title last season with Lindsay Cunningham and took the No. 2 singles title Saturday. Trumbo and Santa Ines won Nos. 2 and 3 singles last year and teamed up for the No. 1 doubles title.

Trumbo and Santa Ines avenged their two losses to win the No. 1 doubles title. They beat Huntley’s Michelle Barnvos and Kylie Phommasack, 5-7, 6-2, 10-7 (third sets were played as 10-point pro set tiebreakers). Trumbo and Santa Ines led, 5-2, in the first set before it slipped away, then came back to hand Barnvos and Phommasack their first loss.

“Positivity was really important for us,” Trumbo said. “We knew if we got down they would use it to their advantage. We had to be extremely positive and focus on positioning.”

In the finals, Trumbo and Santa Ines defeated Cary-Grove’s Kate Larry and Katie Jannusch, 6-2, 6-3. Larry and Jannusch beat them in an FVC dual last week.

“It felt like redemption for both of us,” Santa Ines said. “Today we were both playing really solid. We had a lot of strategy coming into the match. We had so much energy since we had beaten Huntley. We had a lot of momentum and positivity.”

Crystal Lake Central’s Olivia Johnson and Megan Rapisarda won No. 2 doubles and were the only champions not from Jacobs or Huntley.

Huntley’s Alessandra Rivera, who played last year’s No. 3 singles third-place match unknowingly on a broken ankle, took the title in that division.

Kareena Patel and Michelle Chan won at No. 3 doubles and Ela Hontanosas and Aera Chong won at No. 4 for the Red Raiders.

“Our 4 doubles was seeded fourth and won,” Wells said. “That was exciting. Our 3 doubles was down 5-2 in the first set and came back and won in two sets. I talked to them and told them to have fun and play the way they did all year. We’ve had good depth all year.”

Fox Valley Conference Tournament

Team scores: 1. Huntley 56, 2. Crystal Lake Central 46, 3. Jacobs 43, 4. Cary-Grove 38, 5. Crystal Lake South 31, 6 (tie). Hampshire, Prairie Ridge 30, 8. Dundee-Crown 21, 9. McHenry 16, 10. Burlington Central 5.

The scoring system for the tournament awards 10-first, 9-second, 8-third, 7-fourth, 6-fifth, 5-sixth, 4-tie for 7th and 3-ninth at No. 1 singles and doubles; 9-first, 8-second, 7-third, 6-fourth, 5-fifth, 4-sixth, 3-tie for 7th and 2-ninth at No. 2 singles and doubles; 8-first, 7-second, 6-third, 5-fourth, 4-fifth, 3-sixth, 2-tie for 7th and 1-ninth at No. 3 singles and doubles; 7-first, 6-second, 5-third, 4-fourth, 3-fifth, 2-sixth, 1-tie for 7th and 0-ninth at No. 4 doubles.

Third sets were played as 10-point tiebreakers (must win by two).

No. 1 Singles

Championship: Chloe Siegfort (Jac) d. Ruhi Gulati (Hun) 6-3, 6-1.

Third place: Ellie McGinnis (CLC) d. Lizzy Sudbrook (CLS) 4-6, 6-5, 10-3.

No. 2 Singles

Championship: Isha Desai (Jac) d. Elaina Hibbeler (Hun) 6-1, 6-0.

Third place: Evelyn Smith (CLS) d. Natalia Piekunko (CLC) 6-1, 6-2.

No. 3 Singles

Championship: Alessandra Rivera (H) d. Annabella Gaffaney (CG) 6-1, 6-3.

Third place: Lillian Manley d. Kate Howard (CLS) 10-8, 6-2.

No. 1 Doubles

Championship: Kaya Trumbo/Lara Santa Ines (Jac) d. Kate Larry/Katie Jannusch (CG) 6-2, 6-3.

Third place: Michelle Barnvos/Kylie Phommasack (Hun) d. Haley Benard/Emma Grindstaff (CLC) 6-1, 6-0.

No. 2 Doubles

Championship: Olivia Johnson/Megan Rapisarda (CLC) d. Talia Duffy/Dyllan Cash (Hun) 7-5, 8-6 (7-6).

Third place: Sam Seibert/Alison Gerhardt (Jac) d. Chloe Sorensen/Mary Greenwald (CG) 6-2, 6-7 (7-3), 10-5.

No. 3 Doubles

Championship: Kareena Patel/Michelle Chan (Hun) d. Nikki Carpatuic/Lexie Soltis (CG) 7-6 (7-4) 6-2.

Third place: Ellyse Cruz/Lexi Holtkamp (CLC) d. Jessica Cunningham/Calista Pollack (PR) 6-0, 3-6, 10-3.

No. 4 Doubles

Championship: Ela Hontanosas/Aera Chong (Hun) d. Grace Cullian/Anika Richard (CLC) 6-3, 1-6, 11-9.

Third place: Evelyn Renaldi/Grace Rose (Ham) d. Emily Kim/Alexandra Harris (PR) 6-2, 6-3.