Girls tennis: Tough draws for local entries at IHSA State Meet

There were quite a few people who were at least a little surprised when La Salle-Peru’s Carlie Miller won three matches on the first day at last fall’s IHSA Girls Tennis State Tournament, but Miller herself was not one of them.

And now she wants to do it again, and the rest of the local participants in this year’s state finals hope to follow her example.

Miller, who won three of four Thursday matches a year ago before finally being eliminated on Friday, is back in the ‘burbs and has drawn Woodstock’s Marta Fito for her first-round match on Thursday at Rolling Meadows High School.

Hoping to copy her performance are two Cavaliers doubles teams, the duo of Emmie Hachenberger and Ava Lannen and the twosome of Izzy Pohar and Kaylie Reese, as well as three entries from neighboring Ottawa – singles player Emma Cushing, the doubles team of Rylee O’Fallon and Jenna Smithmeyer and the tandem of Isabel Heimsoth and Emma Walker – and one from Morris, singles ace Gretchen Zarbock.

Miller’s experience a year ago should be a big factor for her in up to four matches at a number of suburban sites Thursday. If she wins or loses the opener, she will face whoever comes away the same from another first-rounder between Danville’s Cici Brown and St. Viator’s Meredith Garcia.

She’s accomplished her other goals for this year, so don’t bet against the last one.

“Getting back to state was one of three goals I had in mind for the season,” said Miller, the singles champ at the Class 1A Ottawa Sectional on Saturday. “One was to win conference, and I did that. No. 2 was to win the sectional, and now I’ve done that. I’m really proud of myself, so now No. 3 is to do better at state than last year, finish higher than the top 24, maybe get to the top 16. If I maintain my aggressiveness, I think I can do it.”

Ottawa’s Cushing will open state play at Hoffman Estates against Morton’s Lily Gregary, with the winner/loser taking on either No. 7 seed Savannah Webb of Richmond-Burton or Sterling’s Ellie Aitken.

Zarbock starts her first appearance at state at Elk Grove High School, squaring off against Morgan Park’s Michaela Olimene, then will meet either the No. 10 seed, Dunlap’s Shikha Agarwal, or Rochester’s Julia Musgrave.

In the doubles competition, Smithmeyer returns to state, this time paired with O’Fallon and coming off a sectional championship. At Palatine High School, they will do battle with Rockford Boylan’s Elizabeth Fitzgerald and Elise Pecora.

That winner/loser will take on either Fenwick’s Rachel Abraham and Maeve Paris or Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge’s Madeleine Bartmess and Kelsey Collins in the second round.

Heimsoth and Walker, meanwhile, have a pretty tough draw at Schaumburg High School, having to meet Chicago University’s Sanskriti Sarav and Paola Almeda, the No. 2 overall seed. The advancer will see either Father McGivney’s Kennedi Taylor and Natalie Beck or Karli Mann and Jersey Summers, of Herrin.

“You just never know,” Ottawa coach Steve Johnson said. “There’s the ‘should wins,’ the ‘could wins’ and the ‘that was a great experience playing them’ matches, the ones where they beat you badly but it was fun playing them, they’re so good. You get the right draw, you can get three wins and all of the sudden, you’re in the draw of the top 24. Any combination of three wins will get you there, so its well worth trying.

“There will be teams there at state that we’re capable of beating, but we may not see those. It’s frustrating to look down the row of courts and think, ‘Too bad we’re not playing those guys because we could beat them.’ It’s all about the draw, playing your best whoever you play, then see what happens.”

Also in the doubles portion, L-P’s Lannen is back at state. Paired with Hackenberger, they have the misfortune of drawing the No. 1 overall seed in Elgin Academy’s Addison Lanton and Noelle Lanton at Palatine High School.

The advancer will see either Chatham Glenwood’s Elise Destasio and Julia Kagan or Troy Triad’s McKinley Saffel and Caty Burton.

Finally, at Schaumburg, the Cavaliers’ Pohar and Reese will open their first state try against Joliet Catholic’s Ally McCarthy and Callie Streitz. Awaiting the winner and loser will be the like results of the match between the No. 4-seeded Chicago Latin’s Alicia Mihas and Malia Chen and Flora’s Ava Cammon and Kathryn Jennings.