Tigers' Youel reaches FVC final

Lauren M. Anderson - landerson@nwherald.com Prairie Ridge's Hannah Gummerson returns the ball to Huntley's Jordan Anderson during the Fox Valley Conference tournament at Crystal Lake South High School on October 10, 2009. (Lauren M. Anderson ())

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CRYSTAL LAKE – Crystal Lake Central’s Nelle Youel breezed through the opening day of the Fox Valley Conference Girls Tennis Tournament at No. 1 singles, losing only four games in four matches.

Youel defeated Crystal Lake South freshman Marisa Thome, 6-0, 6-1, to advance to the championship match at No. 1 singles. She will face the winner of the other semifinal match between Prairie Ridge’s Hannah Gummerson and Grayslake North’s Kelly Poggensee-Wei, who will play Monday. 

With rain washing out play Friday, the tournament will finish Monday, beginning at 9 a.m. Monday is the Columbus Day school holiday.

Woodstock coach and tournament director Steve Bridges said he is looking into the possibility of playing indoors Monday, if the predicted showers hold true.  

Players were required to play four matches Saturday with some semifinals and finals, as well as other place matches scheduled for Monday.

Youel said she tries to work on the fundamentals of her game in matches when she holds a big lead. Most of that centers on being able to control the net.

“I just work on getting the ball deeper in the court,” Youel said.

If Poggensee-Wei advances, Youel could see her stiffest competition before the state tournament, less than two weeks away. Both players lost in the sixth consolation round last year at state and will play at different sectional tournaments.

“I’m looking forward to a bigger match,” Youel said. “That could be it for me.”

Prairie Ridge’s No. 1 doubles team of Carolyn Huerth and Allison Murphy advanced to the finals with a 6-0, 6-2 win against Johnsburg sisters Nicole and Alexa Stroner.

Skyhawks coach Rick Bailey said his doubles team was overmatched against Prairie Ridge but saw some positive signs in being able to stay in points and get a couple of games off the top-seeded Wolves. Bailey is hopeful his No. 1 team can get to state out of the Lakes Sectional. 

“I think they realized they belong on the court with those kind of teams,” Bailey said of the Stroners. “We’re going to use that to build on.”  

Murphy and Huerth will face South’s Abbey Kolarczyk and Stephanie Brunetti in the finals Monday. Kolarczyk and Brunetti defeated Cary-Grove’s Elizabeth Lehnertz and Elizabeth Powers, 7-5, 6-1, in the semifinals.

Because the tournament has not progressed evenly, team scores were not calculated Saturday.

Prairie Ridge and Crystal Lake South appear to be the front-runners with the most players alive in the championship bracket.