SKOKIE — Sectional tournaments have never been much of a match for Carol Finke.
The New Trier senior cruised to her fourth sectional title Saturday by defeating junior teammate Taylor Tamblyn 6-1, 6-2 at Niles North. It was a rematch of last year’s sectional championship match.
“I’m super excited,” Finke said. “It was more about out there today just making sure that we were getting each other prepped for state. It wasn’t about winning or losing.”
Finke advanced to the final with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Evanston sophomore Jessica Ampel in a match that was closer than the final score indicated.
Ampel began the morning with a victory over Niles North freshman Sabrina Palavra in the last remaining quarterfinal. After their match was suspended due to darkness Friday with Ampel a game away from victory, Palavra was able to come back to tie the second set at five games apiece Saturday. However, Ampel won the next two to earn the right to face Finke and a spot in the state tournament.
“Jess played so, so well,” Finke said.
In the doubles final, New Trier sophomore Cammy Frei and senior Lily Schroeder defeated New Trier senior Alex Wolkoff and sophomore Catherine MacKinnon 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Both tandems had lost a single game going in.
In the third-place doubles match, Evanston senior Olivia Luby and sophomore Kate Kremin won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1, over Niles West seniors Kristine Park and Andra Sabou.
In the third-place singles match, Niles West freshman Eliza Kirov won 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 against Ampel.
Correction: Due to an error on the IHSA website, an earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that Carol Finke lost a set in the 2010 girls tennis sectional tournament. Finke has not lost a set in sectionals during her high school career. New Trier coach Jerry Morse-Karzen confirmed Finke won her second-round match 6-0, 6-0 in 2010, not 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 as the IHSA site reports.
