Junior Ashlyn Reade, as a fifth seed in singles tennis, qualified for state at the sectional on Oct. 13.
“It was a good accomplishment for high school, especially being a junior,” Reade said. “I was super excited for the experience.”
The Minooka girls varsity tennis team went to Lockport to compete in the 2A sectionals. Minooka was supposed to host at home, but the competition was moved to Lockport to play inside because of rain.
Reade got a first round bye for her first game. She went on to play Savannah Stortzum from Champaign Central and won her first set 6-0, her second set 6-1, and then moved onto round 3 to play Lily Kulhan from Lincoln-Way West.
Reade defeated Kulhan 6-3, 6-1.
“I felt pretty good in the first few rounds, but towards the end I was tired,” Reade said.
Reade advanced to the semifinals putting her up against Martyna Kalinowska from Lockport. Reade lost the first two sets, but with this loss she wasn’t finished.
Reade lost the third-place game against Jessica Ing from Lockport, 6-0, 6-1. But finishing in 4th place gave this junior an opportunity at state to compete with over 64 other individuals.
Minooka’s fourth doubles team got moved up to second doubles right before the sectional. Addison Hunter and Bella Cyrkiel had a first-round bye, then played tough against Lincoln-Way West’s Ella Nichols and Eva Kubilius. Minooka won the first set 6-4, lost the second set 6-2, and forced this match to play a tiebreaker, which they lost 6-3.
“The team did really well,” Hunter said. We played in the first round going up against the second seed, which was really hard. But winning the first set got us going.”
“We played really well and got to compete at a really high level against some solid teams,” head coach Trevor Shields said. “And for Ashlyn Reade to qualify for state, it’s a really big deal.”
At the end of this sectional, Minooka finished sixth place out of nine schools. Minooka had 8 points from Reade, Melissa Marquez, Hunter/Cyrkiel, and Emma Dietz/ Jocelyn Morales.
