Thrown together in a doubles partnership less than a week ago, Erin Hois and Marissa Alcantara of Downers Grove South walked away as sectional champs after defeating Naperville North’s Diana Chang and Jessie Bailey 6-1, 6-1 in Saturday’s Downers South sectional.
Hois, 28-2 as a singles player, agreed to try her hand at doubles where the Mustangs found themselves deficient heading into the state tournament. After a rocky start, Hois and Alcantara swept four sectional matches en route to their title.
“Erin and Marissa played for the first time this week and were terrible,” Downers South coach Pete Freischlag said. “But they are such good players I knew it wouldn’t take long for them to make such a strong team.”
Bryce Marable of Downers South ran her record to 29-2 with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 defeat of Benet’s Kara Guzman in the singles title match. In the nearly three-hour match, Marable found herself up 5-1 in the third set when Guzman battled back to within 5-4. Guzman was within one point of tying the third set 5-5, when Marable broke her serve and rallied to take the next two games and the match.
“When I got one game away from winning I just got too aggressive and tried to do too much,” Marable said.
Downers South also captured the team title with 22 points, edging Benet, which finished with 19.
Highland Park sectional: Deerfield’s Nida Waseem edged Debra Streifler of Highland Park 6-2, 7-6 to capture the singles crown. “If the match went to three sets I would have been done,” Weseem said, after enduring leg cramps in the second set.
Lindsey Goldstein defeated Stevenson’s Heidi Romer 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the third place singles match to clinch Highland Park’s team sectional victory. Highland Park and Deerfield each finished the day with 30 points, but the Giants were awarded the title by qualifying more players for the state tournament.
Boys soccer
Lincoln-Way 3, Naperville Central 1: Ned Grabavoy scored two goals to go with Kurt Krupa’s two assists to pace No. 1 Lincoln-Way (20-0-2).
Evanston 1, Jacobs 0: Tyrone Pennant scored the lone goal on an assist by Dylan Pender for No. 2 Evanston (18-1-2). Jon Maendel earned his 17th shutout of the year.
Carmel 1, Marist 0: Adam Hughes scored early in the second half to help No. 9 Carmel (16-4-1, 8-1) tip Marist in the East Suburban Catholic. Goalie Jon Mikrut had six saves for his 10th shutout.
Addison Trail 3, Oak Park 0: Nate Tessler and Angel Vega each scored their first goal of the season and Bart Godziejewicz added another for Addison Trail (12-4-5).
Argo 5, Bloom 3: Kamil Brzostowski booted in two goals and Noah Parra had two assists for Argo (14-2-2).
Bartlett 3, Glenbard North 1: John Dahlquist notched a hat trick and JP Matti had two assists to lift Bartlett (17-4-1).
Chicago Latin 2, Francis Parker 1: John Campbell put in the game-winner with 30 seconds left in the match to boost the Romans (9-6-1, 7-3) in the Independent School League. Jeff Blankstein pitched in with a goal and an assist as coach Tom Bower earned his 200th win at Latin.
Loyola 3, St. Laurence 0: Joe Barnes, Scott Orr, and Goren Dabizjevic scored the goals for Loyola (8-8-3, 7-1-1) in the Catholic League.
Neuqua Valley 1, Batavia 0: Brett Bell assisted Dave Balsewicz’s first-half goal to lead the Wildcats (9-9-2).
Southside Prep 7, Morgan Park 4: Thomas Porter scored four goals and Jose Perez added two goals and an assist for Southside Prep (10-4, 10-2) in the Public Second Division.
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Girls volleyball
Glenbard East Invitational: No. 9 Providence used Renata Dargan’s 35 assists and Amy Holmes’ 20 kills to edge No.2 Mother McAuley 10-15, 15-9, 15-11 in the title match. Megan Griffin recorded 11 kills for McAuley in the loss.
Maine West Tournament: Top-ranked Downers Grove South defeated Belleville West 18-16, 15-12 to capture this tournament title for the third time in six years. Michelle Chatman notched 10 kills as Katie Smith and Carrie Sullivan had eight kills each to rally the Mustangs (31-2). Meghan McDonald chipped in with six blocks
“I think it’s good when it’s a close game and you can pull it out,” Downers Grove South coach Denise Lazzaroni-Kavanaugh said. “It gives you confidence.”
Erin Noble and Christina Archibald each had nine kills for Belleville West (32-2).
Cross country
Mid-Suburban League meet: Wheeling’s Frank Velasquez made up a 50-meter deficit to Palatine’s Tony Rakaric and won the 3-mile race in 15 minutes 11 seconds. Schaumburg’s Pat Rizzo finished second in 15:12. Rakaric ran fourth in 15:19.
Wheeling had three others in the top 10–Gerrardo Herrera finished third, Matt Wallace ninth and Mike Burke 10th–to win the meet with 71 points to Hersey’s 96. Two-time defending league champion Schaumburg finished fifth.
Wheeling freshman Alison Coren won the girls 21/2-mile race in 14:46, beating Buffalo Grove’s Jean Marinangeli by 11 seconds.
“When you get into the field you don’t think about what grade you’re in,” said Coren, Wheeling’s first girls champion since 1991.
Schaumburg claimed its second straight team title with seven runners in the top 20. Liz Chlopek and Amy Mueller finished seventh and 10th, respectively, to lead the Saxons, who beat Fremd 60-70.
West Suburban Silver meet: York’s Maria Cicero cruised to the individual title in 14:18 for 21/2 miles, leading the Dukes to their third straight division championship with a near-perfect score of 19 points to 70 for host Lyons. York’s Kelly O’Neill ran third, Allison Billhardt fourth, Kelly Forst fifth and Kara Henry sixth. Downers North’s Jessica Brannigan broke up York’s top five with a second-place finish in 15:01.
Cicero topped her previous best time on the Lyons course by 20 seconds. “Maria ran a 65-percent effort here during the season,” York coach Larry Bassett said. “Today she ran all out.”
York’s boys won with 27 points to 36 for Downers North but will share the overall division title with Downers North, which beat York in a dual meet. The Dukes have won or tied for the division crown for the last 14 years.
The Dukes’ Adam Roche won the boys 2.85-mile race in 14:01.
Girls swimming
New Trier swimmers finished first or second in 12 of 14 eventsand collected 155 team points to win the overall team title at Saturday’s 23rd annual Trevian Relays.
New Trier, runner-up to St. Charles at this meet and at state last fall, had three relay championships as well as individual firsts from Jackie Goldman, Ashley Welnhofer, and Ashley Seymour.
Goldman won the 50-yard freestyle in 23.89 seconds while Welnhofer was first in the 100-yard freestyle in 52.78. Goldman joined Megan Alexander, Karen Magnuson and Meakin Poor to win the 4×50-yard medley in 1:52.07. Seymour, who transferred this year from St. Charles to New Trier, won the 100-yard breaststroke in 2:16.87.