Area roundup: Sauk women’s tennis team advances to nationals for third straight season

The Sauk Valley Community College women’s tennis team earned a berth in the NJCAA Division I National Tournament in May with a runner-up finish at the Region IV Tournament on Saturday.

Led by No. 3 singles champion Kenzie Hubbard, the Skyhawks finished second at the regional for the first time since 2015, while qualifying for nationals for the third straight season, another first for the program. Sauk finished the season 7-1, and earned a spot in the NJCAA top 25.

Hubbard defeated Moraine Valley’s Trisha Meyers 6-1, 2-6, 10-5 to win the No. 3 singles title. Teammates Meghan Van Buren (No. 4) and Lexi Sneek (No. 5) took second in their spots after falling in the championship matches.

Van Buren teamed with Sydney Schott to win the title at No. 2 doubles, defeating a team from Moraine Valley 6-3, 6-2. Hubbard and Olivia Pitkin took second at No. 3 doubles, falling to College of Lake County 6-4, 6-3 in the title match.

Schott (No. 1), Saryn Seeley (No. 2) and Pitkin (No. 6) all finished third in their singles brackets as the Skyhawks scored 16.5 points to finish behind Lake County (20) and well ahead of Waubonsee (8.5) for the runner-up spot.

“What a way to end my 30th year coaching,” Sauk coach Sara Kipping said. “The women played awesome and fought hard in the heat, and did an amazing job to earn a trip to nationals for the third straight year.”

Volleyball

Dixon 4-1 at own invite: The Duchesses defeated Dunlap, Belvidere, Scales Mound and Galesburg at the Dixon Invite, but fell 2-1 to Geneseo.

Mallory Coley had 38 kills, nine blocks and 38 digs for Dixon, while Ella Govig added 24 kills, eight blocks and 11 digs. Elena Castillo-Wetzell led the back row with 49 digs to go with five assists and five aces, and Natalie Davidson chipped in 34 digs. Holli Miller had 29 assists and 14 digs, Hanna Lengquist finished with 27 assists, 22 digs and six kills, and Sydney Hargrave dished 18 assists to go with 11 digs and three aces. Joey Brumbly had 10 kills and five digs, and Olivia Cox finished with six kills and eight blocks.

Girls tennis

Comets 2nd at Mendota: Led by No. 2 singles champion Marisel Schalck, Newman earned a runner-up finish at the Mendota Invite.

Schalck won all three matches in straight sets, dropping only seven games on the day. Sarah Tunink took second at No. 1 singles, falling to Mendota’s Alex Stremlau in the finals.

Cecilia Sagel and Joy Zigler teamed up to take third at No. 2 doubles, defeating a team from St. Bede 10-6 in the third-place match. Emma Oswalt and Julia Rhodes finished fourth at No. 1 doubles.

Sterling ties for 5th at conference meet: The Golden Warriors scored two points to tie for fifth at the Western Big 6 Meet in Moline.

Ellie Aitken notched Sterling’s only win, taking her first match 6-3, 6-3, but falling in the second round. Jenica Francis also played singles and lost her first match, as did the doubles teams of Anna Meltzer and Layla Tablante, and Madison Hubbs and Sam Feather.

Men’s college golf

Sauk’s Rude advances to nationals: Sauk Valley competed at the three-day Region IV Tournament at PrairieView, and the Skyhawks’ Jacob Rude earned a berth at the NJCAA National Tournament next May.

Rude followed a first-round 71 with an 81 on Friday, then shot a 76 on Saturday for a three-day total of 228, good for eighth place and all-region honors.

The Skyhawks shot a 989 as a team. Grant Wasson had a 248, Brayden Schulz fired a 254, and Logan Wunderlich shot a 259; Jalen Bickett withdrew because of injury after a first-round 87.

Bryant & Stratton won the team title with a 917, while Black Hawk (922) and Illinois Valley (925) earned the other two team berths to nationals. Highland’s Riku Moriyama shot a 216 to win medalist honors by five strokes.

Senior bowling

League competes in September: The Sauk Valley Senior Bowlers competed through the month of September, rolling every Tuesday and Thursday at Plum Hollow Lanes in Dixon.

Individual high scores for the month were: Bill Bontz 184 game, 499 series; Connie Bontz 164, 449; Bill Burkardt 163, 441; Norma Burmeister 152, 443; Steve Byars 182, 485; Chico Contreras 193, 534; Ray Craney 152, 399; Charlotte Dierdorff 150, 381; Aniti Dunphy 165, 435; Dan Dunphy 257, 631; Laura Enlow 89, 240; Ron Erickson 245, 633; Carole Janes 188, 407; Terry Janes 121, 345; Dick Janssen 243, 592; Bob Joyce 203, 478; Jan Kuepker 147, 392; Ken Masters 211, 537; Ron Meagher 194, 524; Ron Odenthal 201, 538; Linda Richards 203, 510; Cruz Rivera 220, 605; Jim Shuman 179, 489; Therma Smith 193, 439; Glen Stroh 109, 301; Dee Szymanski 163, 400; Ed Webb 170, 452; Shirley Webb 140, 327; Charlie Werner 175, 456; Jay Wolfe 201, 532.