Deerfield’s Rachael White said she played singles like she had nothing to lose in the final of the girls state singles tournament Saturday.
It turned out she didn’t.
The Warriors sophomore battled back from a third-set deficit to take the title from Francis Parker sophomore Elizabeth Epstein 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4).
“I fought my hardest,” said White, a 5-8 seed. “I played my heart out. It was for the state finals. You can’t get any higher than that. I didn’t give up–it’s overwhelming.”
Due to the weather the event was moved indoors to the Centre Court Athletic Club in Hanover Park.
Second-ranked Epstein (23-1) came out with little rest after a three-set semifinal victory over Lynne Poggensee-Wei (27-2) of Grayslake Central. But she matched baseline blasts with White in an excellent display of groundstrokes.
“I felt like the momentum was going her way,” said White, who trailed 4-1 in the final set. “But I had to forget that. In the last couple of games, I could feel [cramping] in my hands, probably because I was nervous and I was holding the racket so tight. My legs were tired too, but I just kept going.”
Defending champion Deerfield had to settle for second place behind Hinsdale Central’s youth movement. Led by freshmen doubles champions Courtney Dolehide and Nida Hamilton, the Red Devils scored 43 points to the Warriors’ 34. Lake Forest finished third with 29.
Top-seeded Dolehide and Hamilton (32-0) held 4-1 leads in both sets. They had to battle back from a 6-5 second-set disadvantage to defeat Lake Forest second seeds, senior Nadia Zoubareva and sophomore Nicole Lipp, 6-4, 7-6 (9-7).
“We had a lot of set points and we couldn’t really close it off,” Hamilton said. “They came at us–they were a really solid team.”
Added Dolehide, “It feels great [to win]. It doesn’t really make a difference what year we were. It would still feel great.”
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dsurico@tribune.com
