York junior tennis ace Caroline Coan received two phone calls before her Class 2A girls tennis state singles championship match Saturday at Hersey.

Older sister Josie Coan wished Caroline well from Middlebury College in Vermont.

Former York teammate Lizzie Isyanov — the Class 2A state singles runner-up last fall — sent encouragement from the University of Illinois.

Caroline Coan, seeded second, then hit the court and made an array of sensational shots against top-seeded Helena Klooster of Marist.

Made history, too.

Coan became the first Duke in program history to net a state championship after edging the RedHawk 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 in three hours, give or take a minute of dauntless shot-making from both athletes.

Coan (31-2) was down 3-0 in the third set, knotted it at 3-3 and broke Klooster in a 5-deuce game to tie at 4-4.

“I had to get locked in, for sure, to get back in the set, all while staying aggressive,” said Coan, who also played superb defense from the baseline by often catching up to Klooster’s hard, deep, well-placed groundstrokes to the corners. “Helena’s shots stay low, so I had to slice, lob, do anything I could to stay in the points.”

The Duke held serve and then broke Klooster on a 15-40 point with an overhead smash. An ecstatic Coan turned quickly to her vocal, green-clad supporters in the bleachers behind the baseline and shouted, “Come on!” before turning again to shake Klooster’s hand at the net.

“Caroline dug deep and stayed with her game plan after falling behind 3-0 in that third set,” said York coach Kara Dollaske. “She mixed up her shots well. What also helped her a lot was her reset routine after points.”

Added Coan, “I was hoping I’d end up with a top-four state finish in singles back in August.

Wheaton Warrenville South junior Riley Lepsi and sophomore Reese Lepsi aren’t just best friends.

They’re also sisters.

“Having a close friendship isn’t always the case with sisters,” said Tigers coach and Fremd graduate Patti Clousing after Lepsi-squared capped off a 29-0 season with a resounding 6-0, 6-2 defeat of Hinsdale Central’s Lauren Panveno/Sophia Virmani in the Class 2A doubles final.

“Riley and Reese are close and competitive and only need to make eye contact to know what the other is thinking,” the coach continued.

After match point, the sisters — fifth at state in doubles a year ago — shared a lengthy embrace in a service box and swayed together for a few fun seconds before shaking hands with the Red Devils.

Hinsdale South sophomore Addy Filipiak, meanwhile, topped Dunlap’s Anna Yu 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the Class 1A singles title match a year after taking third at state.

Filipiak was one game (5-6) away from losing the first and two points away (2-5) from dropping the tiebreaker. After winning 5 straight points to take the breaker, she went up 5-0 in the second set.

“I kept my shots deep and took chances when I got them,” said the Hornet. “I worked on becoming more aggressive in the offseason.

Yu made a mini run, claiming the second set’s sixth and seventh games.

“As soon as match point was over, I felt a mix of relief and happiness,” said Filipiak.

In the state’s team segment, New Trier won its third straight 2A title with a 33-point total. Stevenson — state runner a year ago — and Hinsdale Central tied for second with 28 points apiece.

Conant and Wheaton Warrenville South each earned 23 points to tie for fourth place — the best team finish in Conant’s program history. Conant, impressively, reached that height with only one seeded entrant (5-8 doubles seed Advita Deepak/Nidhi Karekar, the eventual sixth-place finisher).

Hinsdale Central’s other state runner-up members: Sydney Shuster/Anika Sarai (5-2 in doubles); Asha Sarai (3-2 in singles); and Julianna Radonjic (3-2 in singles).

“Our theme of the weekend was, ‘Prove it,’” Red Devils coach Shawna Zsinko said. “They all played well and did everything I wanted them to do. They left it all on the court.

“Illinois high school tennis is loaded,” she added. “So many amazing players.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251025/girls-tennis/girls-tennis-yorks-coan-makes-history-with-state-title/