Kane County Chronicle Girls Tennis Players of the Year: Shannon Lu and Danielle Dejanovich, St. Charles North

ST. CHARLES – After making it to the second day of the Class 2A girls tennis state tournament last season, expectations were high for the now senior-sophomore doubles team of Shannon Lu and Danielle Dejanovich.

The St. Charles North doubles team, however, lived up to those expectations.

Lu and Dejanovich ended the season with a 35-8 record, won a second doubles sectional title and made it to the fifth-round consolation bracket at the state meet in October, earning themselves second-team all-state honors for the second year in a row.

Considering the resume in their second season together, Lu and Dejanovich are the 2024 Kane County Chronicle Tennis Players of the Year.

“What made them special was their drive and their determination and their ability to really work together, even in the tough matches and the matches that were even,” St. Charles North coach Sean Masoncup said. “They were able to hold their composure and really use their tennis ability to push them over that next hump or that next hurdle.

“But no doubt, they’re probably the best doubles team I’ve ever coached, besides maybe the duo of Shelby Thomas and Emaira Saini that I had in the early 2000s. But they’re by far and away the best I’ve seen over the last 10 years.”

Unlike last season, the two were split up for the most part throughout the season, with the two playing in separate matches throughout the week before teaming up for weekend tournaments. Masoncup said he made the move in order to make sure he didn’t waste his two best players in one slot against conference opponents.

However, even with the time apart, Masoncup felt that the two had a connection that helped them see plenty of success on the court.

“From the very beginning, they sort of complemented each other pretty well,” Masoncup said. “Because we have Danielle, who’s younger and has a lot of firepower. And then Shannon is our consistent, pretty even-keel player who has that senior captain leadership. So they work well together in that way.”

Despite the time apart, the two also felt that they got closer and played better than they did a season ago.

“We’ve definitely gotten a lot better at communication and talking to each other,” Lu said. “We know how to get each other to play the best that we can, and saying encouraging things and just improvements that we see we can make. And we look for those in each other.”

“Both of us wanted to try and get a better seed at state and wanted to get further at state than we did last season and have a better performance in our record,” Dejanovich said. “I know that was a drive that both of us had. But I think we definitely played a lot better this year. We’ve worked a lot harder, and it showed on the court.”

While Dejanovich has two years left on the North Stars, she said she’ll miss playing with her doubles partner from the past two years.

“I’m definitely just gonna miss her energy,” Dejanovich said. “Having her energy on the court just made everyone really happy and just made you love the sport, too. And she was just always encouraging me. She never was on the court with a bad attitude, which helped me with my mental toughness”

Lu, who’s graduating after this year, shares the same sentiment. The senior, who also became the fourth North Star to accumulate 100 career wins, said she will miss the time she’s spent with the North Stars’ team.

“It definitely has meant a lot to me,” Lu said. “I feel like it’s helped me develop at least half my personality. I definitely would not be the same person without tennis, and especially the team. It’s taught me a lot about leadership, and I feel like I’ve grown like a community and just met a lot of really great people through this.”

All-Area team

Singles: Claire Andersen (Batavia), Julia Arulandu (Batavia), Zoe Hermann (St. Charles East), Kelsey Jacob (St. Charles East), Ashley Rajcevich (St. Francis)

Doubles: Casey O’Brien and Emma Larson (Batavia), Liv Ketterman and Maggie Lagman (Rosary), Shannon Lu and Danielle Dejanovich (St. Charles North), Reese Thomas and Maddie Zubel (St. Charles North), Cameron Rajcevich and Elizabeth Szalek (St. Francis), Elle Steffen and Carmen Risdon (St. Francis)