Girls Tennis: Crystina Lee’s memorable state debut has Timothy Christian in position to make history

Timothy Christian sophomore Crystina Lee made her first trip to the state tournament a memorable experience on Thursday.

For the Trojans, it might turn out to a historic experience, too.

Lee won all three of her matches in the Class 1A state tournament to advance to Friday’s quarterfinal round.

Her strong individual performance put the Trojans in prime position to earn a trophy, and make program history. In all, the Trojans tallied 15 points to top the previous mark of 11 points, which was set twice, according to Timothy Christian coach Keith Mills.

Timothy Christian is currently in second place behind Chicago University (24 points) and just ahead of Fenwick (14).

“I’m very happy with our team’s outcome,” Mills said. “We talked about beating two goals: scoring more than 11 points and getting a trophy. Our highest finish was 10th, so we could finish in the top five. We’re shooting for a trophy.”

Mills said Lee (34-3) helped vault the Trojans into rare territory with her consistent play on Thursday. Playing at Hersey High School, Lee cruised to a two-set win in her first match, but found herself locked in a grueling battle against Peoria Notre Dame’s Mary Breitbach in the second round.

Lee pulled out an emotional 6-2, 3-6, 10-7 win to advance to the third round, where she defeated Champaign St. Thomas More’s Maddy Swisher 6-1, 6-2.

“I’m pretty happy with how I did today,” Lee said. “I definitely felt there were times I could’ve done much better. The second (match) was pretty frustrating. I went into it thinking I was seeded and the other girls wasn’t, so it could be over quickly. But she was a great player. I had to keep the ball in play, and just tried to do my best. I learned a lot. I was done 5-0 in the second set. I learned I have to keep positive. It was a great experience for me.”

Mills said Lee showed some resolve overcoming the cold and windy conditions in her first state experience.

“She had a super tie-breaker in the second round, so that helped build her confidence because in her next match, she cruised,” Mills said.

Lee, who has lost just two singles matches all season and one in doubles, waited her turn to play at No. 1 singles for Timothy Christian. She had a familiar person in her way last year: Her older sister, Cassandra. The younger Lee was a sectional doubles champion last season.

“Cassandra had such great composure, and was such a leader on the court and was always enjoying herself,” Crystina said. “I learned from her to always keep my head up and be positive.”

Mills said Crystina Lee made the best out of her one-year wait to play at No. 1 singles.

“Crystina is a singles player, but her sister was on the team last year,” Mills said. “She would sometimes alternate at singles, but she was too good to play second singles. She’s got all the tools to be top eight as a sophomore, and maybe higher next year. She has really built her mental game. She has a really nice serve and she went to the net today in her second match. That proved to be the difference.”

Meanwhile, Benet had two singles players and two doubles teams competing in state. Clare Lopatka lost her first round match, but battled in the back draw to win her next three matches to highlight Benet’s showing on the first day at state.

“We have kind of a changing of the guard because we have three seniors and three freshmen,” Benet coach Michael Hand said. “The seniors are enjoying themselves, and the three freshmen are trying to avoid the deer in the headlights (look).”

Elsewhere in Class 2A, York’s Lizzie Isyanov advanced to the singles quarterfinals with three straight-set wins, dropping just three games in three matches. She beat Katrine Boianov of Lake Zurich 6-0, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals.

In the Class 2A doubles draw, both of Hinsdale Central’s teams – Zoe Limparis and Bridget Novatoney and Sophia Kim and Katie Dollens – advanced to the quarterfinals with three straight-set wins. Hinsdale Central, with 20 points, is currently in first place, just ahead of New Trier (18) and Deerfield (15).