The tournament is sectionals. But the right results endow a title that lasts for a lifetime: State qualifier.
Harlem juniors Ana Besevic and Melina Coletta now wear that title proudly after finishing fourth in doubles Saturday at the Class 2A Harlem Sectional. Coach Bill Dredge said they are the first Huskies to qualify for state in six or seven years.
“I have been working forever for this,” Besevic said. “Last year, I was close (in singles) but didn’t make it. This year, I did. It means a lot. I’ve wanted that title for so long. And I finally got it this year.”
For a while, it looked like they would get even more. Besevic and Coletta clinched their trip to state on Friday with two wins to reach the semifinals. They then jumped out to a shocking 4-0 lead over NIC-10 champions Lacey Foss and Harper Powell of Hononegah — who had beaten them 6-0, 6-0 in their earlier meeting.
“That was incredible,” Dredge said. “They are fighters. They are awesome.”
Foss and Powell bounced back to win 7-5, 6-0 then cruised in the finals with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Guilford’s Laci Belknap and Yeva Ksenafontova.
“It was a little rough, but we cruised after that,” Foss said of their start in the Harlem match. “We picked up the energy and just decided to play.”
Foss, a junior, also loves the title of now being a state qualifier after missing by one round last year.
“It’s very cool. It’s an honor,” she said.
An honor the Harlem duo wears even more proudly after their semifinal showing.
“It shows we’ve gotten somewhere — and we still have plenty of places to go,” Coletta said. “Even though we were already at state, it was cool to see we can get further than where we’re at right now.”
Auburn’s doubles team of Taylor Buhl and Aida Dummer finished third and also became first-time state qualifiers.
In singles, Auburn senior Avery Trapp repeated last year’s championship win over good friend Elle Loch of Hononegah and Belvidere sophomore Leilani Mora, who went to state in doubles last year, finished fourth.
Trapp, who has also beaten Loch in the NIC-10 finals the last two years, had to work harder Saturday, winning 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).
“Elle played great,” Auburn coach Tracy Palmer said. “She didn’t make any mistakes. She was firing on everything. Avery was firing everything she had and Elle was standing toe-to-toe with her.
“It was a very exciting match. More exciting than I had planned on.”
Auburn finished with 21 team points to win its sixth sectional title in seven years. Hononegah (18) and Guilford (16) finished second and third.
Class 1A Rochelle Sectional
Twin sisters Melissa and Megan Hillman of Rockford Lutheran had their toughest match in the quarterfinals, beating Dixon 6-3, 7-6 Friday, before winning twice Saturday, including a 7-5, 6-1 win over Sycamore in the finals. Rochelle's Erin Murphy and Catherine Williams finished fourth and Freeport's Audra Luecke was fourth in singles. Rochelle (15 points) finished third as a team and Lutheran (14) took fourth.
Matt Trowbridge is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at mtrowbridge@rrstar.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @MattTrowbridge.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Here are the Rockford-area sectional girls tennis champs, individual state qualifiers
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