Downers South Tennis Team Carries on Strong Tradition

The program's tradition is rich and graduation wipes out much of the starting lineup. So what do you do?

If you're this year's Downers Grove South tennis team, you reload and you work hard. This year's Mustangs have mixed a few senior leaders with some talented underclassmen and are off to a 7-4 start, including a perfect 3-0 record in West Suburban Conference play.

With veteran performers like Ashley Alletto, Steph Hiquiana, Chelsea Lavin and Aisha Wadhwani guiding the squad, the Mustangs are not lowering their expectation bar even a little bit. Next week's home meet with conference favorite Hinsdale South will be a tough test, but DGS will take to the courts with some confidence.

"You could kind of say we've been the underdogs," said Lavin, a senior who has a 10-9 record this fall while playing No. 1 doubles with either freshman Atena Poskute or sophomore Vicky Andonova. "We lost the entire starting lineup from last year, so it's been difficult.

"But all of the girls have been working really, really hard. This is a great group of girls. I knew we'd come through."

Hiquiana, also a co-captain, is playing No. 3 doubles with Steph Skarin, Like Lavin, Hiquiana has provided some leadership for the team.

"It's such well-known program and thank God we have coach Pete (Freischlag)," said Hiquiana, whose record sits at 10-8 heading into this week's action. "Sometimes we take that for granted. But we do like and remember that. It kind of gives us incentive to hold up the name."

Freischlag, who lost five state qualifiers to graduation, led the Mustangs to a conference title last fall, along with a second-place finish at sectionals and a 17^{th-place mark} in the state tournament. The Mustangs were second in the state in 2007 and seventh in 2006.

"We have a pretty strong culture here of hard work and fighting," he said. "We are fighters. They scramble and dig and the young kids are stepping up."

One of those youngsters is Andonova, who is 8-2 at first singles. She's just one of many youngsters getting plenty of help from the Class of 2011.

"As a senior, it's like taking the motivation that the seniors had last year to push us," Alletto said. "We wanted to carry that on to motivate the younger girls. Everyone's worked really hard in the offseason, and I thought it would be a good season."

Hiquiana said the summer work helped the Mustangs both on the court and as a team.

"We're like a family," she said. "Being together all summer and through all the training we go through, it's a really good bonding experience. It's like having a bunch of sisters."

Hard-working sisters, that is, with a strong tradition to carry on.