Huntley’s girls varsity tennis team fell behind at this year’s Fox Valley Conference, which was hosted by Dundee Crown. The girls placed 12 out of 13 teams, with Jacobs placing first and winning the conference title.

The team scored 47 points overall. They earned 10 points in their first doubles match played by junior Emma Breen and sophomore Rebecca Fishman, and in their third singles match played by freshman Alex Landman.

Although they didn’t place as high as they hoped, the girls had several close matches in both singles and doubles. One of them being freshman Alex Landman’s third singles match against the second best player from Jacobs.

Landman played six matches total and placed six out of 13 girls in the third singles championship match. She lost 7-5 and 6-3 against Maggie Corbett from Jacobs, but ended up finishing the highest out of all of the players on the Huntley team.

“Alex showed great determination,” said Huntley coach Barry Wells. “She doesn’t have a lot of experience since she just started this year, but she was mentally tough.”

Another close match was the second doubles consolation, played by Paige Behrens and Emma Jonen against Hampshire’s Paige Larson and Katelyn Schoedl. The Huntley duo lost 6-3 and 6-1, coming in ninth place.

“Some of the draws were tough because of the schools we played,” said Wells. “We definitely came up short without second and fourth doubles.”

Wells believes that one of the main reasons why the team came up short was because of inexperience. It was the first conference tournament for nine out of the 11 girls on the team.

“A lot of the more experienced girls graduated last year,” said Wells. “Even though we didn’t finish where we wanted to this year, the experience is going to help us next year.”

To prepare for next year, Wells wants the girls to join tennis leagues and clubs over the summer for extra practice. He also encourages the girls to take weight lifting classes here at the high school. He is confident that the team will improve after gaining some experience.

The team encountered another disadvantage when sophomore Rebecca Fishman rolled her ankle during her first doubles championship against Cary Grove.

“It was a rough tournament for us when one of my girls got injured,” said Wells. “Fishman rolled her ankle on her first match on Saturday, so they forfeited the match.”

Despite the results of this year’s conference, Wells is confident that the team will improve a lot by next year. According to Wells, the team has made big improvements this season not only on their skills, but on their camaraderie as well.

“The girls got a chance to get to know each other and became good friends throughout the season” said Wells. “They’ve made big steps and their skills have gotten dramatically better.”