Plainfield Central's Foster Wins No. 1 Singles; Oswego Nets Girls Conference Crown

A year ago, Oswego High School entered the Southwest Prairie Conference girls tennis meet in second place. The Panthers went on to win the team championship.

The Panthers did it again Saturday at Plainfield North.

Oswego took first at No. 3 singles and No. 4 doubles on its way to scoring 27 points. Oswego East, which went 7-0 in league dual meets for the second year in a row, was second with 26 points.

Plainfield North placed third with 15 points. Planfield South took fourth (13.5 points), Plainfield Central took fifth (12), Romeoville was sixth (4), Minooka placed seventh (2.5) and Plainfield East came in eighth (1.5).

"It's fun tennis and we showed a lot of depth," Oswego assistant coach Linda Keely said. "Anything can happen, and that's why they call it a season-ending tournament."

"Oswego has taken it two years in a row from us now," Oswego East coach Mike Dutton said. "Like we've seen the last couple of years, no matter what happens in the dual match, you can get it back at the conference meet."

At No. 1 singles, Plainfield Central's Ali Foster captured her first SPC championship in her fourth year as the Wildcats' top player.

Foster defeated Oswego East freshman Sajela Harlow 6-3, 0-6, 6-4. It was the first time this year Foster needed three sets to win a conference match.

"I had to work for it," Foster said. "She hit a lot back. I had to work for everything. I got a little frustrated."

"I'm proud of her," Plainfield Central coach Josh Bloodgood said. "It's good for her to work to win matches. She can't take anything for granted. Even if she's not happy with the way she's playing, better players can take games away from you. She has to be prepared for that and battle through when she feels like she's not hitting her shots."

"It was probably the best I've seen her play against her," Dutton said of Harlow. "Especially in the second set, she was right on her game. The next set was game for game. She hit some really good shots. Ali took her in the end. But, I'm absolutely happy with how she played."

At No. 1 doubles, Oswego East's Erin Brooks and Kylee Jackson defeated Oswego's Reynolds Cross and Miranda Pence 7-6, (7-4), 6-3.

"It feels awesome," Brooks said. "It was a lot of work, but I'm glad we pulled it out."

"We're like sisters off the court," Jackson said. "The more we practice together, the better we get."

"They made a lot of mistakes out there, figuring out what positions they should be in," Dutton said. "They seemed to finish at the end, which was great. We have some things we need to work on for the next tournament. They may end up seeing them again."