The Naperville Central varsity girls’ tennis team competed in the Dupage Valley Conference (DVC) tournament on Oct. 6 and 7 at Neuqua Valley High School. The team placed first in conference on the varsity, junior varsity I (JVI) and junior varsity II (JVII) levels. With their chant, “1T1D,” standing for “one team, one dream,” the varsity team claimed their victory after earning 64 points, passing Neuqua who finished in second place with 50 points.

“[DVC] is extremely competitive,” sophomore JVII player Adriana Garcia said. “But it’s still really important to have fun while you’re there.”

There were a total of nine high schools competing at DVC for girls’ tennis with the addition of District 204’s Metea-, Neuqua- and Waubonsie-Valley High Schools and the other members including Naperville Central, Naperville North, Wheaton North, Wheaton Warrenville South, Glenbard North and Lake Park.

“Last year we did do well, [but] I think this year we did a lot better,” said junior Zoë Comerford, varsity girls’ tennis player. “To get all seven positions on varsity into the DVC finals is amazing. It’s really hard to do.”

The varsity team, led by Coach Don Bonet, acquired seven positions in the DVC finals with senior Tiffany Chen at first singles, senior Hannah Swarm at second singles and junior Allison Yuan at third singles. Victories in doubles were secured by senior Megan Furukawa and junior Zoe Comerford at first, junior Sabrina Chow and sophomore Natalie Atkins at second, seniors Naga Vivekanandan and Josilyn Dostal at third, and seniors Maddy Kelly, Maya Fenter and Shruthi Mohan at fourth.

“We had players [competing in] top positions, but then it moved all these other players who were very good down to a position they could easily win at,” Comerford said.

Bonet has been a coach at Central for 25 years and the girls’ varsity tennis coach for 14 years. Under Bonet’s guidance, Central’s varsity girls’ tennis team has  won DVC in 2008, 2010 and 2013.

“[Bonet] does a lot for the team, which all the girls really appreciate,” Chen said. “He’s been a great head coach for these past four years of mine and for Central in general.”

Central came in first place at sectionals on Oct. 16 and 17 at Naperville North. First singles player Chen and the doubles team of Swarm and Chow qualified for the state tournament on Oct. 22, 23 and 24 in which Chen placed second and Central placed seventh overall.

“There’s a level of standard that’s been expected for Naperville Central tennis, and it’s something we hope to continue for the years to come,” JVII Coach Sarah Chavous said.