Girls tennis: Aurora Christian duo goes 2-0 at state

Familiarity breeds success.

That definitely is the case with the Aurora Christian girls' tennis doubles duo of sophomores Shelby Johnson and Madie Jurasek.

Johnson and Jurasek, in their second state doubles appearance in as many years, went 2-0 Thursday to advance to Friday's third round of the IHSA girls Class 1A tennis state finals held at various venues around the Northwest suburbs. Johnson and Jurasek are a 3-4 seed in the tournament.

Johnson and Jurasek, now 11-2 overall this season (Aurora Christian does not have a tennis team so the duo mimics Rosary's schedule and plays as often during the regular-season as opponents are available), opened the tournament with a 6-1, 6-1 win over the Chicago Payton duo of Sophie Ishiwari and Emilia Wilkie.

They followed that up with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over the Highland team of Kirsten Plocher and Elisabeth Meadows. Johnson and Jurasek start third-round main-draw play Friday at Wheeling against the Rockford Lutheran team of Kaitlyn Larson and Hadley Turner, a 9-16 seed going into play Thursday.

"Our volleys are really good and our serves were on today," said Johnson.

Jurasek added: "We went out and competed and played our best and that's what is important to us. We encouraged each other and we had fun."

The duo felt its second-round win had even more positives than the opener. "We were more competitive in the second match," Jurasek said. "Both our games were on and we were confident in our strokes."

Johnson chimed in: "We were making all our shots and we had confidence in each other. We hit our shots."

Johnson, a Geneva resident, and Jurasek, a Sugar Grove resident, have a history that reaches back much earlier than Aurora Christian. They first met eight years ago at a tennis tournament in Geneva and now are best friends.

Thursday's two victories pushes them to 30-5 in two years at Aurora Christian. As freshmen, they ran up a 4-2 bill at state, advancing to the sixth-round of the consolation bracket. They now are 6-2 in state matches.

"We have to continue to compete and encourage each other," Jurasek said of the team's strategy for today's competition. "That's what it comes down to."

Also in Class 1A, the Kaneland doubles duo of Laura Karolewicz and Marley Schultz went 1-2 and was eliminated, while Knights singles player Elizabeth Towell lost both her matches.

Class 2A

Elgin sophomore standout Marta Krakowski went 2-1 Thursday and advanced to the third round of today's back draw.

Krakowski started the day with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Edwardsville's Natalie Karibian. She then lost 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to Hinsdale Central's Olivia Oosterbaan in the second round. Oosterbaan is a 5-8 seed in the singles draw.

But Krakowski rebounded after a quick 20-minute break between matches to record a 6-2, 6-1 win over Elk Grove's Jovana Vujanic. She starts her day Friday in the third round of the consolation bracket at Palatine.

"My first game I was not playing my game. I was nervous. Maybe it was the whole state thing," said Krakowski. "The second match, the second set I played well. I liked the way I played. The third set I lost control and wasn't playing my game. The third match I felt consistent and placed the ball everywhere."

Krakowski said the win over Vujanic was significant due to the gravity of the earlier Hinsdale Central match and the lack of rest between the contests. Krakowski beat Vujanic, a sophomore, in the sectional last week, but lost to Vujanic's older sister, Jelena, in the sectional final. Jelena Vujanic is a 9-16 seed in the state singles draw.

"It was only 20 minutes and I still was upset from the last match," she said. "After the first couple games I forgot about the loss and focused on the match. I was happy about that."

Krakowski further reflected on the Hinsdale Central match. "I thought I played really solid in that second set and I expected myself to play the same way in the third and finish it," she explained. "I thought I would keep winning. I thought I would do a lot better and then I don't know what happened."

Krakowski is thrilled to be playing into the second day of the massive state tournament. "After state last year (she went 1-2 as a freshman), my goal was to make it to Friday," she said. "I'm very happy about that."

Krakowski is now 50-5 in her two seasons at Elgin. "I like the way I've played this year," said Krakowski, who moved to 25-3 on the season (only losses to Jacobs state qualifier Haley Steinkamp, Elk Grove's Jelena Vujanic in the sectional final and Thursday's loss). "I haven't lost any big matches except to really good players. I'm glad I'm winning and playing my game consistently every match. I have to keep playing my same game throughout the whole match and not do what I did against Hinsdale. I have to be aggressive and not make too many mistakes. With the wind (Thursday), I was giving away too many free points."

West Aurora's Liz Stefancic, a 9-16 seed in the singles draw, also advanced to second-day action after posting a 2-1 mark Thursday. Stefancic opened play with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Lake Park's Nina Pasquini and then lost 6-4, 6-4 to Maine South's Jennifer Ptak. Stefancic came back to record a 6-4, 6-4 win over Whitney Young's Darinka Stepan and will start her day Friday in the third round of the consolation bracket at Palatine.

The Crystal Lake South team of Claire Atkinson and Julia Kopfman went 2-1 Thursday and will compete in the third round of the doubles consolation bracket at Palatine.

Atkinson and Kopfman lost their opener in three sets to the Sandburg team of Jasmine Abunaim and Sophie Sjo, but came back to defeat the Rockford Guilford team of Elizabeth Johnson and Suzanne Russo 6-1, 6-3 and the Huntley team of Abbey Roeser and Rebecca Fishman 6-3, 3-6, 10-7. Huntley was eliminated with the loss.

In other area action, Jacobs' Steinkamp went 1-2, while the Golden Eagles' doubles team of Katie Toomire and Kylie Skepnek also went 1-2. Huntley's Roeser and Fishman and the Crystal Lake South duo of Skylar Olsen and Hannah Rakofsky each went 1-2. Batavia's team of Julianne Robinson and Maddie Durso went 0-2 in doubles play, while the St. Charles North tandem of Shelby Thomas and Breanne Werner also went 0-2.