Loureiro delivers conference title for Sandburg
Winning many of her matches in short order has given Sandburg freshman Maia Loureiro the chance to doone of her favorite things.
Watch her teammates play. “I like watching tennis, especially watching them ,” Lou re ir os aid .“I like cheering them on. It’s really fun being on a team.
“I love doing activities with the girls. We’ve done a lot of fun stuff, like Crazy Hat Day and Crazy Socks Day. I’m just surprised that I’ve made so many friends. I’m not that social all the time. I’m kind of shy.”
Except, of course, when she’s swinging a tennis racket.
Loureiro completed a South West Suburban Blue Meet sweep Saturday at LincolnWay East. She defeated Lockport’s Kamila Kalinowska 6-3, 6-1 in the No. 1 singles championship match.
Sandburg scored 35 points to win the overall team title. Lockport and LincolnWay East tied for second with 24 points.
The victory at No. 1 singles kept Loureiro (19-0) unbeaten for the season, with one dual meet remaining before the Class 2A Oak Lawn Sectional from Oct. 16-17.
It’s hardly a shock. Loureiro went into the season ranked in the top 60 nationally in the USTA 14-and-under group. Still …
“It’s really cool to have done so well,” Loureiro said. “I love winning, but I also love playing against good people. It’s really exciting.”
Kalinowska gave Loureiro a challenge in Saturday’s match, especially early on while grabbing a 2-1 lead in the first set. Loureiro kept Kalinowska on the run, however, forcing a bevy of backhand returns that took the advantage away.
“That’s what gave me the most trouble,” Kalinowska said. “Maia is smart. She’s a good thinker, and she knows how to get out of a tough spot.
“It’s definitely fun playing against her. I’ve had some pretty easy matches this season, so coming out here playing someone tough and playing a great match is good.”
Sandburg senior Viyaleta Hordzich and sophomore Josie Canellis didn’t switch from singles to being a doubles team just on a whim.
For one thing, they were already good friends.
“We trained together, being that I was second singles and she was first singles,” Hordzich said. “Last year, we would practice doubles sometimes and we seemed to do pretty well. We have similar games, so that helped a lot.”
The experiment continued over the summer.
“We hit together over the summer a lot in groups,” Canellis said. “We were just kind of talking about how for sectionals, there are only No. 1 and No. 2 singles that play.
“So we were thinking that maybe we could come together as a doubles team. We went with it, and sure enough, it worked.”
Probably beyond anyone’s expectations.
Hordzich and Canellis (19-0) won theNo. 1 doubles conference title on Saturday, beating Lockport’s Madi Williams and Camryn Mitchell 6-2, 6-1 in the championship match.
“Since it’s my first time playing doubles, it’s definitely a special one,” Hordzich said. “It’s also important for me going into sectionals. I’d like to reach my goal of continuing to go to state.”
Hordzich advanced to the state meet as a singles player in 2018 and 2019.
Although the state meet has been canceled this season by the Illinois High School Association due to the coronavirus pandemic, a top sectional finish would represent a third straight season in which she would have qualified.
Did you know? Anne McDonald was an all-state guard on Mother McAuley girls basketball teams that advanced to state two times, finishing second and fourth. McDonald was also stateworthy in tennis, earning sixth-place medals with doubles partner Anne Wall in 1994 and 1995.