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Morris edges La Salle-Peru to win girls tennis sectional · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Morris edges La Salle Peru to win girls tennis sectional. Written by
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  Kevin Schlum This article is being read by an automated voice brought
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  to you by Everlit. Morris Jr.'Emerson Wheeler and Lilah Conley were confident
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  heading into the Doubles Championship match Saturdays at the Class I A
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  La Salle Peru sectional. We knew we were going to dominate and
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  we did, Wheeler
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  said. The number one seeded Warriors duo defeated LaSalle Peru's April Pichetto
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  and Ella Lannon six one six two to win the title, and
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  advance to state for the second year in a row. It feels
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  rewarding, Wheeler said. I thought we played really good throughout the sectional.
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  We had a fire in us. We wanted to win it. Wheeler
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  and Conley's title, along with a runner up finish by Junior Stella
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  Wright in singles, helped the Warriors edge the host cavaliers for the
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  sectional title twenty four twenty two. Ottawa eighteen placed third, followed by
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  Coal City, fifteen, Princeton ten, and Pontiac ten. Morris also won a
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  sectional last season and the Warriors have three sectional titles in the
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  past four years. I am so proud of us, Wright said. I'm
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  just so happy that this is the outcome. Wright, the number four
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  seed, played a key role in winning the title in a tightly
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  contested sectional as she upset number one seeded Bailey Berger of Pontiac
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  6-1-6-4 in the semifinals. It
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  was incredible, Wright said. I was overjoyed. I
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  did not expect that great of an outcome, but I'm glad it
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  turned out that way. It feels so amazing and I'm so glad
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  I can contribute to my team and be part of it that
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  way. Ottawa Jr. Savannah Frederickson beat Wright 6-1, 6-1 in the championship
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  match. It feels good, Frederickson said. It takes off a little stress.
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  I did good throughout the tournament. I feel like I was doing
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  my spots and hitting the shots and my serves were good. I
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  was thinking smarter and smarter. Frederickson also pulled off a semifinal upset
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  as the number three seed, defeating number two Addy Picha of LaSalle
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  Peru 61-60. Frederickson had previously last twice to Picha this season. This
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  time around I wasn't panicking as much, Frederickson said. I was more
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  calm, cool, and collected, so it made me able to think clearer.
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  Peacha, a senior, dropped the first set of the three-set match, but
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  bounced back to beat Burger 677560. Peschetto is happy to be headed
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  to state after falling short at sectionals last year. Peschetto and Lannon
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  won both matches Friday in straight sets to qualify for state, then
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  defeated Cole City's Lani Winkle and Kyla Stark 6 3 6 2
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  in Saturday's semifinals. It feels pretty good, because it's my last year,
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  and last year my partner and I kinda had an upset and
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  we didn't make it, Pesicetto said. There was a lot of hard
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  work going into this. Pesicetto was originally partnered with Picha before joining
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  with Lannon a junior about midway through the season. I feel like
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  we were both kind of scared when we got paired together, because
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  we weren't used to each other, but then We started well and
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  continued, Lannan said. We just practiced a lot, and then worked outside
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  of practice to improve. It feels good
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  to advance to state. We worked hard for it. Princeton sophomore Ava
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  Munson and junior Anna Ellis placed fourth in doubles to end a
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  thirteen year drought for the Tigresses at state Princeton doesn't usually make
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  it this far, so it feels really good, Ellis said. We played
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  really well in the sectional. I'm super proud of us. We kept
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  a positive attitude and we played really well. Princeton's last state qualifier
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  was Jen O'Neill in 2013. I think it's good to show that
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  girls tennis is a priority at Princeton, and we have the capability
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  to do this, Munson said. They Tigris pair was the number 5
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  seed and earned their state berth with a win over LP's number
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  4 Bethany Kaspersky and Ali Smith in the quarterfinals 6-4-7-6. I think
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  we definitely started out on top, and we kind of swayed through
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  the second set. But toward the end we were locked in together,
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  and we pulled through, Munson said. The state tournament takes place Thursday
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  through Saturday in the Chicago suburbs. Wheeler and Conley, who have played
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  tennis together since they were about five, hope to improve on last
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  year's state showing when they lost their first match and went 2-2.
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  We're going to play our hardest and hopefully do well, Conley said.
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  We want to make it to day two, but we're going to
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  try for more.