Lyons’ Meg Kowalski outlasts Hinsdale Central’s Bella Lorenzini at Red Devil Invite

HINSDALE — Hinsdale Central’s dominance at the Red Devil Invite continued on Saturday as the Red Devils defeated Lyons 4-1 in the championship of the seven-team dual-format tournament.

Robin Kramer is in her 15th season as head coach at Hinsdale Central and the Red Devils have won the invite every year.

“It’s a lot of fun winning our own invitational,” said Hinsdale Central freshman Stephanie Dolehide. “We had a lot of confidence [Saturday] and I think that really helped us.”

Dolehide teamed up with sophomore Erika Oku at No. 1 doubles to defeat Lyons’ Stefana Vasic and Megan Hickey 6-1, 6-2.

“I think we really clicked today in our doubles match,” Dolehide said. “We played in the I-formation a lot and that really worked.”

“It was a really good match and we’ll gain a lot of confidence from it,” Oku said. “[Dolehide’s] serves helped me a lot so I could go to the net.”

Another big win for Hinsdale Central came at No. 2 singles, where the Red Devils’ Rugile Valiunaite defeated Andjelija Bozovic 3-6, 6-3, 10-3.

“In the first set I started really slow,” Valiunaite said. “I was sitting around all morning and doing the ACT. But in the second set I tried to focus a little more on my shot and how I was going to hit it than just hitting it. I needed to get a good start and keep it going.”

The match of the day came at No. 1 singles, where Lyons’ Meg Kowalski defeated Hinsdale Central’s Bella Lorenzini — the second place finisher at the IHSA tournament last year — 6-0, 3-6, 10-6.

“It was a great match,” said Kowalski, who improved to 13-0 this season. “Kudos to her because she played really well but it just turned out to be my day. It was fun to play and very emotional. It’s an awesome feeling and I’m still shaking.”