Lady Leafs Tie for Third at Potter Invitational

The Geneseo Lady Leafs opened their girls tennis season with a strong showing Saturday, tying for third place at the Morton Potter Invitational with seven team points.

Moline won the eight-team tournament with 11 points, followed by Morton with eight. Geneseo and Dixon each finished with seven, ahead of Peoria Notre Dame, Mahomet-Seymour, Peoria Richwoods and Normal West.

Geneseo’s Kendyl Wassenhove and Stella Smith advanced to the championship match at No. 1 doubles.

The pair opened with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Normal West before defeating Dixon 6-2, 6-4. They met Moline’s Pearly Ciss and Emily VanVooren in the final, falling 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Vi Pettit and Annabelle Betcher also put together a strong run at No. 2 doubles, defeating Peoria Notre Dame 6-2, 6-0 and Mahomet-Seymour 6-2, 6-4. Morton stopped their run with a 6-3, 6-2 victory.

In singles, Anastasia Pitsoulakis earned a hard-fought victory over Peoria Richwoods’ Lydia Day. After dropping the opening set in a tiebreaker, Pitsoulakis came back to win 6-7 (8), 6-3, 1-0 (15).

Annie Reed collected two wins at No. 2 singles. Reed rallied for a 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (9) victory over Normal West and followed with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Peoria Richwoods.

The Potter Invitational was Geneseo’s first scheduled competition of the 2026 season. The Lady Leafs are scheduled to return to action Saturday, Aug. 29, at Sterling, where they will compete with Sterling and United Township beginning at 9 a.m.