Area roundup: Quintet of local girls tennis players advance from sectionals to Class 1A state meet

Three local individuals and a doubles team have all advanced to the Class 1A girls tennis state meet next week, after play concluded at the 1A Rochelle Sectional on Saturday.

Newman’s Sarah Tunink was the top local finisher, placing second in the singles bracket. After defeating Sterling’s Jenica Francis 6-2, 7-5 in the semifinals, Tunink fell 6-1, 6-0 to Rockford Lutheran’s Olivia Stramm in the championship.

Sterling’s Ellie Aitken took third, advancing to the semifinals with a 6-3, 7-6 (8) win over Boylan’s Emily Kielty in the third round before falling to Stramm 6-3, 6-3 in the semis. She then took on teammate Francis in the third-place match, winning 6-1, 6-1.

Francis knocked off No. 2 seed Chloe Coil of Dixon 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in the third round to secure her spot in the semifinals, and earn her state berth.

Dixon’s Leah Kuehl and Grace Ferguson are the lone local doubles team to advance to state, and they had earned that berth with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Freeport’s Macy Olson and Kyla Plowman on Friday afternoon. They lost in the semifinals 7-6 (5), 6-2 to Rochelle’s Melisa Young and Jordin Dickey, then fell 6-1, 6-3 in the third-place match to Belvidere’s Beau and GiGi DeGennaro.

Boylan’s Elise Pecora and Isabel Furst won the sectional doubles title, defeating the Rochelle duo 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the final.

Volleyball

Rock Falls takes title in Lanark: The Rockets rolled to the crown at the Linda Ludwig Memorial Tournament at Eastland High School.

Rock Falls finished 3-0-1 in its pool, with a tie against Aquin. It then defeated Newman 25-17, 25-13 in the championship match. Mallory Pinske had 29 kills and nine blocks, Maya Sands finished with 28 kills, 35 digs and four blocks, and Claire Bickett had 26 kills and 25 digs for the Rockets (31-1-1). Nicolette Udell spiked 10 kills, Cara Goff added 43 digs and 12 assists, and Cadence Williamson stuffed eight blocks. Cadence Stonitsch finished with 53 assists and 25 digs, and Denali Stonitsch chipped in 41 assists and 22 digs. Pinske, Sands and Cadence Stonitsch were selected to the all-tournament team.

Newman also finished 3-0-1 in its pool, splitting two sets with Oregon, before falling in the title match. Ally Clevenger had 33 kills, 39 digs, four blocks, three aces and three assists, Kennedy Rowzee finished with 30 kills, 13 blocks, nine digs and five aces, and Jessalin Johns added 26 kills, 52 digs, four aces and 2.5 blocks for the Comets (23-4-2). Katie Grennan had 46 assists, 27 digs, four kills, four aces and two blocks, Shae McNeill added 39 assists, 27 digs and five aces, and Paige Grennan chipped in 52 digs and six assists. Clevenger and Rowzee were all-tournament selections.

Eastland finished fourth, falling 25-21, 25-23 to Aquin in the third-place match after going 2-1-1 in pool play. Addison Burkholder led the Cougars (23-10-1) with 33 kills, Chloe Sweitzer had 56 digs and eight aces, Jenica Stoner dished 90 assists, and Quinc Haverland stuffed five blocks. Burkholder was named to the all-tournament team.

Oregon finished fifth, going 1-1-2 in pool play before downing Stockton 25-22, 25-19 in the fifth-place match; Jena Bothe was an all-tournament pick. Milledgeville took seventh, going 1-3 in pool play before topping Durand 25-14, 25-14 in the seventh-place match.

Thunder 3-1 at Pecatonica: West Carroll took second at the Pecatonica Classic, finishing behind only the host team.

Amboy finished 1-3.

Boys cross country

Newman 7th, Amboy 8th in Peoria: Amboy-LaMoille’s Brock Loftus finished fifth at the 297-runner Patriot Invite at Detweiller Park.

Loftus clocked a 15:43.7 as the only local finisher in the top 20. He led the Clippers to an eighth-place finish with 233 points, while Newman was one spot higher in seventh with 225 points. Erie-Prophetstown placed 13th (429), and Bureau Valley took 26th (668). Morrison did not field a full team.

St. Joseph-Ogden won the team title with 80 points, while Paxton-Buckley-Loda’s Ryder James won the race in 14:46.2.

Lucas Simpson led Newman in 37th (17:03.4), while Tom Powers was 46th (17:11.6), Ken Boesen finished 52nd (17:17.0), Kaden Welty placed 64th (17:36.6), and Carver Grummert was 75th (17:43.5).

Amboy-LaMoille also got top-30 finishes from Kyler McNinch (25th, 16:43.3) and Ian Eller (26th, 16:46.1), and a 74th from Charlie Dickinson (17:42.4).

Jacob Gibson (17:39.2) and Lucas Dreisbach (17:39.3) led Erie-Prophetstown in 69th and 70th, while Victor Bonnell placed 81st (16:55.5) and Aiden Jepson was 94th (18:09.8).

Bureau Valley’s Elijah House took 33rd (16:55.5), and Benjamin Roth was 87th (17:55.8). Brady Wolf led Morrison in 60th (17:33.8).

Polo 3rd, Eastland 4th at NUIC Meet: The Marcos amassed 73 points, and the Cougars scored 78 to round out the four schools who fielded full teams at the NUIC Meet in Pecatonica.

East Dubuque edged past Durand-Pecatonica 38-39 for the team title, and Dakota’s Aidan Ruiz won the race in 17:19.0

Carson Jones took third in 17:49.9 to lead Polo, and Ben Plachno was seventh (19:14.2). Kale Grobe (28th, 22:32.6), Micah Sankey (30th, 23:04.6) and Kameron Grobe (32nd, 23:09.3) rounded out the Marcos’ lineup.

Hudson Groezinger led Eastland in 11th place (19:46.9), and Adrian Martz was 18th (21:22.0). Ethan Dertz (22nd, 21:53.0) also added a top-25 finish.

West Carroll’s Tyvan Hartson took 25th in 22:19.4

Girls cross country

Polo 3rd at NUIC Meet: The Marcos scored 45 points to place third behind Durand-Pecatonica (36) and Stockton (42) in the NUIC Meet in Pecatonica. They were the only three schools to field full teams.

Bekah Zeigler finished sixth for Polo in 24:01.4, while Kamryn Stockton placed eighth in 24:25.3. Courtney Grove was 11th (24:54.5), Ramsie Grenoble finished 19th (25:46.4), and Ellia Escobar took 25th (28:40.4).

Eastland’s Delaney Wilhelms was the top local finisher in fourth place (23:36.7), and Emma Dampman took 12th (24:56.7).

Olivia Shelley led West Carroll in ninth place (24:41.0).

Locals run in Peoria: Five area schools sent runners to the Patriot Invite at Detweiller Park, with only four locals placing in the top 100 of the 242-runner event.

Amboy-LaMoille’s Lauren Althaus was the top local in 38th place in 20:29.6. Erie-Prophetstown’s Dylan Chandler was 62nd (20:59.7), Newman’s Claire Crisham placed 86th (21:52.9), and Bureau Valley’s Amalie Graversgaard took 90th (21:58.4). Morrison’s top finisher was Gracelyn Streets-Wood in 213th (27:49.2).

Tolono Unity won the title with 81 points, and Father McGivney’s Elena Rybak won the race in 18:09.4. Erie-Prophetstown was 17th (476) and BV was 27th (683) as the only local schools to field full teams.