At Lake Park, Haley & Kylie played two days of absolutely dominant tennis, capturing the doubles title, the first for both.  Both seniors are heading to state for the second time.  Haley previously qualified in singles while Kylie earned a trip in doubles both in their junior season.  Lindsay carried the momentum from her outstanding sophomore season at the top of the lineup by battling to a fourth place sectional finish, earning her her first trip to the state tournament.

Brianna/Ramya and Amber fought hard, but ultimately fell in the quarterfinals, just shy of qualifying for the state tournament.

After playing great against a high-caliber opponent in the first round, Lindsay played through nerves to record her first win at the state tournament and set the foundation for success in the seasons ahead.  Haley & Kylie also fell in their opener, though they bounced back to pick up two wins in the back-draw to advance to Friday, where they were ultimately eliminated by a spirited O'Fallon pair.

All-State Double:  Haley Steinkamp & Kylie Skepnek

NW Herald Players of the Year:  Haley Steinkamp & Kylie Skepnek

NW Herald All-Area Team:  Lindsay Cunningham, Nikole Gilman, Rebecca Mudge, Haley Steinkamp/Kylie Skepnek, Brianna Japkowski/Ramya Nissankula, Amber Seong/Paige Shiakallis

Accompanied by his family, Coach Betts made the trip to the USPTA/USTA World Conference in Orlando where, in addition to a week of professional development seminars and workshops with the world's leading tennis minds, he was named the 2017 USPTA National High School Coach of the Year.

With the incredible support and generosity of The Crystal Lake Racket Club, the first annual Winter Classic Charity Tennis Tournaments (benefitting The Muscular Dystrophy Association) were a massive success.  Not only was there great competition in both the male and female draws, but the event was able to raise over $500 for the MDA!

Though presenting on-court prior to Todd Martin in 2016 and watching Tom Gullikson run the Jacobs boys through drills in 2017 were outstanding experiences, Murphy Jensen's unsolicited compliment of Coach Betts' oft-maligned beard, apropos of nothing, might just have provided a new highlight!

Week 2:  The girls kicked things off with a tremendous run in our own 32-Team Invite, finishing in 4th place, losing by the narrowest of margins in the 3rd place match.  This marked my first absence from a tennis event since my Sectional Saturday wedding in 2005 as I was in Cincinnati over the long weekend to receive the USPTA Midwest High School Coach of the Year Award (and watch some amazing professional tennis!)  As I've said many times over, all coaching accolades are earned by the players, and I'm honored to work with such an amazing group year in and year out.

Week 3:  After JV/FS matches with Warren & York and a return to the FS Nite Lite Invite in Ottawa, the Varsity returned to the courts in split squad action.  Despite missing some starters to the SAT test (presumably scoring perfect 1600s!), our teams showed well in our own 16-Team Invitational, where Haley & Kylie captured the 1st doubles title while Rebecca Mudge, Ramya Nissankula, and Brianna Japkowski led the way with individual titles to bring home the team championship from the United Township Quad in East Moline.

The first few weeks showed flashes of the potential our team has to do some special things this season...it's going to be an exciting ride!