Maysen Pethoud didn’t exactly spend a lot of time last season on the Sycamore tennis team’s varsity squad.

A late-season call-up, she did compete in the postseason for the Spartans.

But this season, the junior is the No. 1 singles player on a Sycamore team that improved to 13-2 with a 7-0 win over DeKalb on Thursday.

“It can be a little intimidating,” Pethoud said. “You see some really good players. But it’s a good challenge and it pushes me.”

Pethoud picked up a 6-2, 6-0 win over DeKalb’s Jolie Ni. Liliana Vasquez and Jada Prombo recorded 6-0, 6-0 wins at No. 2 and No. 3 singles.

Sycamore coach Rob Majerus said he liked how Pethoud’s footwork and serve were working Thursday as well as her variety of shots.

Majerus said Pethoud has shown a lot of mental toughness stepping into the No. 1 spot. Her individual record on the year was not available.

“We knew every day out she was going to see someone who can really play tennis,” Majerus said. “She has not backed away from that challenge. She has worked really hard weekly to improve one aspect of her game. It’s starting to show.”

Majerus said Pethoud has gotten better and better as the year has gone on.

“The struggle is what has caused me to get better,” Pethoud said. “If I didn’t struggle, I wouldn’t experience any growth.”

The top two doubles matches Thursday were close. DeKalb’s Emma Hart and Addelyn Foster fell 6-4, 7-5 to Lila Ezell and Reece Becker, while Sydney Myles and Kayleigh Smith fell to Sycamore’s Morgan Cook and Lily Zurko, 7-5, 6-4.

DeKalb coach Torrance Sharp, a former Sycamore tennis player, said she liked how her team communicated, especially in the top two doubles matches. She also liked the team’s ability to win games in most matches.

“It definitely wasn’t our strongest, but I’m proud most matches put up at least one point,” Sharp said. “We at DeKalb say ‘1Barb’ a lot, so we take that one point at a time. Love to see 1Barb on the scoreboard there.”

The Barbs (2-14) head to the Class 2A Guilford Sectional next month, away from the tough matches they face in DuPage Valley Conference play. Sharp said the communication of the team has her optimistic they can find success in the postseason.

“My girls love to talk in the best way,” Sharp said. “Telling each other where to go, where they’re not going to be and where they need help. It just works out very well.”

Rayna White and Krista Cobb (6-0, 6-1) picked up a doubles win for Sycamore, as did Maddie Pickard and Abby Lisafeld (6-3, 6-1).

The Spartans were coming off a tough loss earlier this week, 3-2 to Ottawa. Two doubles matches went to the tiebreak and Sycamore dropped both of them.

Majerus said it was good to see the Spartans bounce back from the loss.

“The thing about this team is we learn from our mistakes,” Majerus said. “When you have a setback you talk about what we need to fix and get to working on trying to fix it.”