Bulldogs have nearly perfect performance

Batavia's Kim Sawyer returns a serve by West Aurora's Brooke Henry during a singles match.
(Corey R. Minkanic/For the Beacon News)

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Twenty out of 21. Not even Batavia girls tennis coach Brad Nelson expected that much success.

The Bulldogs were victorious in all but one match at Saturday's West Aurora Quad en route to a 3-0 start this season. West Aurora finished 2-1 scoring 10 wins, while Downers Grove North and Mother McAuley each notched six victories.

"It was a great day," Nelson said. "We expected to do well, but 20 out of 21 exceeds our expectations a little bit. "These girls have worked really hard, and it's great to see the fruits of their labor payoff."

Senior Alexa Schofield won both her matches in straight sets, defeating West Aurora's Nicole Maenza 6-0, 6-0 and the Trojans' Zara Kiselius 6-0, 6-0. Schofield paired with junior Kim Sawyer to down the Mighty Macs' duo of Makenzie Schwartz and Cecilia Saaheh 6-0, 6-2.

Abby Link and Elena Mudrak partnered all day and won all three matches they played. Link and Mudrak did not lose a set in the opening round before winning 6-3, 6-2 against the Blackhawks' Lizzy Griffin and Christine Ruddy in the second round. The pair closed the day with a 6-2, 6-0 victory opposite Reem Kieso and Danielle Eppen.

"It's very exciting to start the season like this," Mudrak said. "We're a really well-rounded team. We can go wherever we're needed."

Link added: "We can mix it up between singles and doubles and still be successful."

Batavia freshman Hannah Potter won two games in singles and closed her day with a victory in doubles. Potter opened the event with a straight win against the Might Macs' Madelyn Bagley then defeated West Aurora junior Bri Patterson 6-3, 6-0 before teaming with senior Jessica Reimenschneider for a 6-0, 6-2 doubles win.

"I was really excited and the team helped me out a lot," Potter said of her first varsity action. "I worked hard at practice and prior to the season so I felt I was ready for this."

Reimenschneider beat Bridget Patton (Mother McAuley) 6-0, 6-0 in her opening game and then downed Arian Rieser (West Aurora) 6-2, 6-1 before her doubles match. Batavia juniors Kim Jernstad and Mallory Ramp claimed both of their singles matches. The Bulldogs Erika Connolly and Lauren Berczynski, both juniors, won a pair of doubles matches.

Brooke Henry, a junior from West Aurora, went 2-1 on the day playing at No. 1 singles. Rieser, a sophomore, and Mallory Konstans also were 2-1 in the four team event while Maenza won two events, including the final match of the day that propelled the Blackhawks to a 2-1 start. Maenza outlasted Patton 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).

"We're a little bit young and inexperienced," West Aurora coach Brian Brooks said. "Usually, we have kids that come up to varsity at West that are tournament players, USTA players. And right now, the players we have are nice kids and they work at their programs, but they don't really get outside the city of Aurora too much." West Aurora Tennis Quad