Tennis: Mad about Madie – Knights' new star feeling right at home

Opposing student sections occasionally chided teams from Madie Jurasek’s new school well before she transferred there this fall.

“Where is Kaneland?” they would chant, a nod to the multiple communities from which Kaneland draws.

Pose that question to Jurasek these days – in a straightforward manner and without clapping at the end – and she all but answers “home” in so many words. The junior girls tennis standout has relished her new surroundings after a bittersweet yet seamless shift from Aurora Christian, where she spent her first two years of high school.

“Definitely being able to change for school and academics and just the environment of a bigger social group,” Jurasek said. “I’ve always been a social person, so being able to meet new people and the girls on the tennis team and just growing relationships has been a big part of my life.”

Jurasek enjoyed her tennis experience at ACS, to be sure. It was tough not to with her best friend, Shelby Johnson, teaming with her to form a budding doubles tandem that advanced to the state tournament in 2015 and 2016, including a fifth-place finish in Class 1A last season.

Still, Jurasek sought something more, namely a full team atmosphere that Aurora Christian did not offer. Whereas ACS athletic director Dan Beebe worked diligently with the IHSA to get Jurasek and Johnson approved and eligible for state series competition, fielding enough girls to form a team has seldom been a problem for Knights coach Tim Larsen or his predecessors.

Now, Jurasek is primed for this weekend’s Class 1A state tournament, having earned a berth from the Rochelle Sectional along with fellow singles player Piper Schrepferman and the doubles tandems of Erin McMullen and Anna Carlson and Ingrid Napiorkowski and Haley Plach. Navigating a rotator cuff injury, Jurasek was unbeaten in her first 12 matches as a Knight entering the final rounds of sectionals Oct. 16, which determined seeding for state.

Larsen laughs about the first time he heard about Jurasek’s potential interest in transferring, late in the summer. Corresponding with Larsen and Knights athletic director Peter Goff, Kaneland principal Jill Maras referred to the Sugar Grove product as if she weren’t already a known commodity.

“I was like, ‘Oh, hey. Madie Jurasek’s maybe coming to the team. That’s a game-changer,’” Larsen said. “Just the news was a game-changer.”

The official arrival, on the first day of practice, ultimately prompted some lineup shuffling. With her other doubles half, Johnson, transferring to Geneva – Aurora Christian does not have any athletes competing in girls tennis this fall – Jurasek assumed the No. 1 singles slot. That sent the former custodian of that spot, Plach, to the doubles circuit, where she has shown well.

The quick emergence of Schrepferman, a freshman and the younger sister of former Knight Sammie, also may have caused some shifting even if Jurasek hadn’t come to Kaneland. Schrepferman won 29 of her first 31 matches this season.

Through it all, Larsen has lauded the Knights’ togetherness amid change. It didn’t take long for Kaneland’s returning talent to fuse with its newcomers to form a winning core; the Knights finished fourth at the Plainfield North Tournament on Aug. 26 and won the Yorkville Doubles Tournament three weeks later.

“It’s great,” Schrepferman said. “I feel like it’s kind of another family.”

Jurasek said she knew a handful of Kaneland students before transferring, yet zero were members of the girls tennis team. Although she had heard of Schrepferman from summer USTA junior competition, their age gap meant the athletes never shared a bracket.

At Yorkville, they paired together to win the tournament title at No. 1 doubles, as Jurasek returned to her roots. Playing singles regularly has forced her to alter her approach, but Jurasek credits the tutelage of Larsen, who doubles as a mentor as her math teacher.

“I’ve always been an aggressive player. I’ve always loved to play the net,” Jurasek said. “And so the drills that he has us do, where we have to keep the ball in play for a certain amount of time, has been super beneficial to my game.”

Jurasek suffered a torn rotator cuff while serving in a USTA match late in the summer, but she has elected to delay surgery and play through discomfort. She channels the influence of her father, Mike, who played tennis in high school and as an adult.

Jurasek simply wants to compete. To be a game-changer.

“There’s a solid amount of pain every time I play,” she said. “I’ve been in love with the game since I was 4 years old. I’ve followed in my dad’s footsteps, definitely. He played tennis and it was always an inspiration to me. So, to be able to follow him, it’s kind of just like, you play through the pain. You’ve got to do what you have to do to be able to play.”