Central Tops North in crosstown battle

Originally published in the Grayslake Review on September 10, 2009 by Bill McLean.

Players were cheering loudly for their teammates, laughing and celebrating at the end of last week's Grayslake North- Grayslake Central dual.

It was a happy scene for North on Sept. 3. But Grayslake North's Knights would head home on the "3" end of a 4-3 decision. All of the joyous commotion had been for senior Lauren Erickson and sophomore Liz Steinhoff after their draining 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 win at No. 2 doubles.

"What an exciting match," said North tennis coach Jill Tomasello. "Our girls were strong, mentally, at the end. You'd have thought we had won the dual; our team was so thrilled after a match that lasted about three hours." North sophomore Kelly Poggensee-Wei- armed with a lethal forehand- needed only about 40 minutes to post a 6-1, 6-1 triumph at No. 1 singles, two days after an impressive win over Prairie Ridge's top singles player.

"Kelly is such a stellar player," Tomasello said.

Shannon Zalewski netted the visitors' third win- 6-3,7-5 at No. 3 singles.

"We're young and we're rebuilding," Tomasello said.

"Central has a bit more depth at doubles than we do."

Indeed. Central notched three doubles wins to go with senior Ashley Barillas' victory at No. 2 singles. The Rams' victorious tandems were Samantha Bohner/Alexa Cabaltera (No. 1), Alexa Scarboro/Sandy Vien (No. 3), and Kayleigh Ash/Emmily Cullum (No. 4).

"They all did a great job," said Central coach Chuck Lawson.

Central and North head to Antioch for a quad, beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday.

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