MAPLE PARK - Piper Schrepferman missed a chunk of an already abbreviated girls' tennis season when the Kaneland senior re-aggravated a back injury.

She may have missed time on the court, but Coach Pipes never left.

Schrepferman missed the middle of the season but closed strong by winning the Interstate 8 Tournament and the Class 1A St. Francis Sectional. She was named the Daily Chronicle 2020 Girls Tennis Player of the Year for the second straight year, finishing her career as a first-team member of the team four times, plus earning all-state honors four times.

When she was out with the injury, coach Tim Larsen said she was driving herself to matches. He said normally he's the one with the scorebook, but he handed it over to "Coach Pipes" while she was injured.

"All the girls would go tell her the scores," Larsen said. "She handled that really well. Coach Pipes, that's what we called her. She went out of her way to support the team. She was just great."

Schrepferman said she just wanted to sill feel like a part of the team.

"For me, it was important for me to stay involved to just let everybody know I am still here for them," Schrepferman said. "Even if I wasn't playing, I'm still part of the team and want to lead everybody, push them to be the best they could be.

"And the nickname was fun, too."

It wasn't just keeping scores either. Larsen said Schrepferman, loaded with experience as a four-year varsity player and state qualifier, provided insight to opponents.

"The other girls would be in matches and Piper would, like it was really cool when she wasn't playing, she would talk to me about how certain players play. She'd say, yeah you got to hit it here or this is what she's trying to do. She's not just a player. She was a big part of everyone else's game as well."

Larsen said Schrepferman, who finished 12-2 this year, had a pair of tough matchups in the second half of the year, beating Ottawa's Ella Marvel to win the conference title and Benet's Daniella Nenadovich to win the sectional.

He said he enjoyed watching her claim the wins in both of them.

"She's a legit player and piper played a great match," Larsen said. "She just sort of, all credit to Danielle she played well and hit the ball hard, but Piper just kind of used her strengths and really just took control of that much and was never behind."

Schrepferman said the year ended on a high note, a far cry from how it started.

"The beginning was a little rough, I wasn't sure I was going to have a season or not, so I was a little scared for that," Schrepferman said. "Then I heard the news we could have a season and it would be somewhat normal, minus state, I was pretty happy. A little upset there would be no state, but we made it work."

Even though the COVID-19 pandemic claimed the state tournament, Larsen said all sectional winners were named all-state. Schrepferman said she felt like she had a deep run in her, but added overall it was just a little disappointing not having the state tournament.

With the honor, Schrepferman became the first Knight to earn all-state tennis honors in four seasons.

"It's my biggest brag, I guess," Schrepferman said with a chuckle.