Brittany Plaszewski’s return to high school tennis was not a no-brainer.

The St. Charles North junior, who thrived as a freshman before passing on high school tennis last year, had difficulty finalizing her plans for this fall.
“It was right down to it,” Plaszewski said, referring to the start of the season. “I was really debating about playing, and then I just decided, my team just wanted me to play, so I was like, ‘I’ll play for them.’ I’m glad I did it. I met a ton of new people on my team this year. It was a really nice experience.”

There was little to second-guess about the season itself, which included a 25-4 record at No. 1 singles, Upstate Eight Conference River and sectional singles titles and a victory at the IHSA state tournament. Plaszewski’s triumphant return netted her Chronicle Girls Tennis Player of the Year honors.

A devoted United States Tennis Association tournament player, Plaszewski stepped away from high school play last year as she made lengthy commutes to train at Five Seasons Sports Club in Northbrook. This year, she switched back to her old club in Oak Brook – a little closer, at least – enabling her to mix-and-match private training sessions with North practices and meets. Read More

Warren Blue Devils Lauren Chibucos and Avani Patel, airborne together on a tennis court, intended to give each other a five high before beginning their descent a couple of seasons ago. They … whiffed.

And returned to earth, laughing and a tad embarrassed. “Yes, we did miss sometimes, while we were up there,” Patel, a senior, recalled after Saturday’s quad on the home courts. “But not lately.” Added Chibucos, also a senior: “We had some ugly landings, too.” Their results, on Saturday: gorgeous.

Chibucos/Patel, state doubles qualifiers a year ago, won all three of their matches – two at No. 1 doubles, one at No. 2 – as Warren went 3-0 in duals. Read More

Brittany Plaszewski makes it look easy. The reality is exactly the opposite.

The St. Charles North junior didn’t drop a set on her way to the title at Saturday’s St. Charles East sectional tennis tournament. In fact, she dropped just one game in her first two matches and defeated her final two opponents (Geneva freshman phenom Kirby Einck and Bartlett standout sophomore Jen Gates) by a combined 24-8 score (6-2 scores in all four sets).

It may seem effortless for Plaszewski to dominate her competition with a combination of quickness, strategy and sublime shot-making, but that’s only because she puts in so much hard work between matches.

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If not for Brittany Plaszewski of St. Charles North, the girls’ tennis sectional at St. Charles East on Saturday could have been called “All Bartlett, All of the Time.”

That’s because two Bartlett doubles teams squared off in the sectional title match, while Plaszewski was rolling to her own title in singles with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Bartlett’s Jen Gates.

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