The tennis team had big goals this year: win Conference, win Sectionals, and get some teams to State. The team greatly exceeded expectations and made Lincoln-Way Central history.
Winning Conference was a goal of Coach Balluff’s this year. With the help from Coach Zimmer, the girls were able to blow Conference out of the water. Jenna Labriola, Jori Lambert, Bella Borck and Karenna Snider, Amelia Rodgers and Zoey Ziesmer, and Mallory Oostema and Alyssa Washask all placed 1st in Conference! This led the Knights to win Conference by 11 points! Maria Manzella placed 2nd and Mckinley Lundquist and Helen Ambrose placed 3rd. The team took home the win with pride after beating rivals Lincoln-Way West, Stagg, Bradley, and Andrew.
The Sectional Six: Helen Ambrose, Mckinley Lundquist, Bella Borck, Karenna Snider, Maria Manzella, and Jenna Labriola took on the competition fiercely. First doubles, Ambrose and Lundquist placed second after beating Lincoln-Way East to qualify for State, and later Homewood Flossmoor to advance to the Finals. Borck and Snider competed with Homewood Flossmoor in a nail-biting match. They took 4th place at Sectionals and qualified for State. Manzella beat Homewood Flossmoor to qualify for State, and Labriola beat Andrew to also move on to State. Manzella and Labriola took 3rd and 4th respectively in a bittersweet match where they played each other. The “Sectional Six” took 2nd in Sectionals, falling short of their goal to win, but far exceeded expectations with qualifying for State. The Varsity Girls Tennis team made history by sending all six sectional players to State.
The tennis team left for State on Thursday night and were accompanied by a police escort out of New Lenox. They woke up bright and early the next morning for a long day of competition and fierce rivalry. Labriola and the team of Ambrose and Lundquist won their first-round match against tough teams. Borck and Snider, along with Manzella, lost their first two matches in a tough bracket. The girls celebrated their amazing accomplishment of qualifying for State with a dinner at the Cheesecake Factory where the girls dressed to the nines and enjoyed being a team for the last time. It was bittersweet as three out of the six girls will graduate this year, and they have been an integral part of the program for the last four years.
Congratulations, Knights, on an incredible season!
