Dunlap completes historic finish at IHSA girls tennis state finals

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS — The Dunlap girls tennis team ended its season with a historic silver lining on Saturday.

Sophomore Anna Yu took second place statewide in Class 1A, losing the singles championship match to Addy Filipiak of Darien Hinsdale South, 6-7 (5), 2-6.

Dunlap also took second place as a team in Class 1A, earning its third consecutive state trophy after third-place finishes each of the last two seasons. It is the highest finish for a Journal Star-area girls team at state.

“It honestly hasn’t set in yet,” Dunlap head coach Pat Gornik said. “When we think about it, it just brings tears, the amount of work that’s gone in and the kids buying in and the support from the community. We talked about our goals a month ago for state. We came pretty close to it.

“It feels so great to have gotten trophies in three state seasons for the girls, it’s something that just gets old.”

State finalists: Here are the 19 area high school girls tennis players who qualified for IHSA state

The Dunlap doubles team of Isabella Gusso and Katherine Brewer battled back to play in the fifth-place match, but lost to Charlie Axus and Carm Ventura of Lake Forest, 6-3, 6-1.

Yu (39-5) was trying to become the first Peoria-area girls champion in the 50-plus years of the IHSA state series, in either singles or doubles. She was 5-1 overall at state, earning her team 12 points, while Gusso and Brewer were 5-2 overall, earning the Eagles eight points.

Yu was the first girls singles player in history from the metro Peoria-area to play for a title. She is the second girls tennis player overall to reach the state final, joining the Richwoods doubles team of Sue Moore and Cindy Reiman, who finished second in the 1977 single-class finals.

“I’m so proud and excited,” said Yu, the reigning Journal Star girls tennis Player of the Year. “I came in with big goals and I accomplished most of what I set out to do. I am so grateful for our seniors and their leadership, and the best coaching staff in Illinois, and my parents and all the support from my family.

“It feels surreal, honestly, playing for a championship with this being just my second year.”

Said Gornik: “She started playing tennis in our summer camps first or second grade.She got serious about it. The talent and the hard work, and her family pushing her and supporting her. As long as we stay in 1A I think it’s a possibility we’ll see a rematch in the state single final next year.”

Dunlap finished with 28 team points, second behind champion Deerfield. Lake Forest was third.

Dunlap’s Alassea Michel went 3-2 overall in singles, winning her first two matches over Margo Simonds of Carbondale and Angelia Sala of Freeport and earned her team five points. The Eagles doubles team of Melaina Humbles and Berkeley Stigall earned three points with a trio of consolation victories.

Metamora and Morton each scored five points and tied for 21st.

How other Journal Star-area players fared

• Metamora: Senior Lauren Poole won her first two matches, over Bianca Cisel of Notre Dame and Leah Jones of Flora before losing a pair. She finished in the fourth round of the consolation finals. Senior Lexi Burton finished 1-2, with a win over Rebecca Hall of Coal City. The doubles team of seniors Tayla Brown and Naomi Roth lost its opening two matches.
• Morton: Junior Chloe Kendall went 2-2 at state, winning her opening match vs. Kara Moore of Carterville and a consolation match vs. Leilani Mora of Belvidere North. The doubles team of senior Caela Myers and sophomore Faith Osterman lost its opening-round match, but rebounded to finish 2-2 and make the third round of the consolation finals.
• Notre Dame: Sophomore Bianca Cisel lost her first match before rebounding to defeat a pair of opponents in the consolation bracket, bowing out in the third round. Sophomore Madelyn Monge lost her opening-round match, rebounded for a win and then lost in the second consolation round.
• LaSalle-Peru: Senior Dagny Greer and junior Julia Garcia went 0-2 at state, losing in the first round of the consolation finals.
• Richwoods: Seniors Addison Sharpe and Leah Shaffer went 1-2 in Class 2A doubles, losing in the second round of the consolation finals. They defeated Claire Neely and Molly Haynes of Chicago Marist in their lone victory.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA girls tennis state: How Peoria-area players fared at state