The three matches contested under the lights Saturday night in Romeoville told pretty much the story of a long, cold day at the Bolingbrook girls tennis sectional.

On one court, Plainfield North sophomore Jackie Altansarnai, the No. 2 seed, was beating Plainfield Central sophomore Ali Foster, the top seed, 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 for the singles title.

Altansarnai had to wait for hours in the cold between matches because Lockport junior Haley Ilcewicz, the third seed, was forced to retire with an upper leg injury after she reached the semifinals.

Could Altansarnia get her motor running again soon enough to compete against the machine that is Foster? You betcha.

Of course, Foster has been sick for a couple of weeks, and in fact sat out the conference meet in order to make sure she could play in the sectional.

For Ilcewicz, it was huge to get to the semis because all semifinalists in singles and doubles qualify for the state tournament, which begins Thursday in Arlington Heights and other northwest suburbs.

Yet, the big story was on center court, under the lights. There, the two Joliet Catholic doubles teams were battling for the sectional title, knowing they already had helped the Angels to their first sectional crown since 2005.

The top seed of freshman Harley Hutchinson and junior Jessie Bertino would defeat the third-seeded duo of junior Colleen Geraghty and freshman Alexis Bauer 6-4, 6-2.

But Geraghty and Bauer already had a huge impact on the outcome. After having to go three sets to beat Providence Catholic seniors Emily Becker and Jordan Stone 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 in the quarterfinals, they knocked off Lockport's second-seeded team of sophomore Abigail Plecki and freshman Kelsey Forkin in a honey of a semifinal 6-4, 6-3.

Lockport had been the local sectional champion the last three years. But thanks in no small part to the efforts of Geraghty and Bauer, and the singles victories in an early round by senior Jessica Peak and in the quarterfinals by junior Kate Voitik, the Angels totaled 24 points to 19 for runner-up Lockport.

Third-place Providence scored 17, Plainfield North 16, Bolingbrook and Plainfield Central 10, Plainfield South 8 and Joliet 4. Romeoville and Plainfield East did not score.

To complete the picture told under the lights, two Lockport doubles teams battled for third place, with Plecki-Forkin beating fourth-seeded senior Krissy Kozak and junior Becky Stanford 6-4, 6-3.

JCA coach Charlie Berta noted the unusual setting -- two JCA doubles teams meeting for the title, two Lockport teams meeting for third place.

His No. 1 doubles team all season was Geraghty-Bauer. Hutchinson and Bertino were his top singles players, though they had played together in doubles enough to be 5-0.

"I was thinking about them playing doubles. They're terrific singles players, but singles is really loaded in this sectional," Berta said.

"They're the best of friends, and they asked me if they could play doubles. Both of them wanted to go to state. So I said, 'Let's do it.'"

The move helped pave the road to a sectional title.

"This is our first one since 2005," Berta said with a smile. "And the thing is, this team is so coachable. Every girl."

Although finishing in the runner-up spot, Lockport coach Stacy Sparlin was more than happy with three state entries -- the two doubles teams and Ilcewicz.

"I don't know if I want to use the word surprise, but this team is young, and we graduated seven seniors last year, six of whom were at the top of our lineup," she said. "This group won a lot of matches 4-3 this season."

Ilcewicz, who will make her third trip to state, would have liked to have been a bigger part of the fireworks in singles, but for her injury.

"It's been going on for about two weeks," she said. "The goal today was to get to state and then rest it."

Before Saturday's singles championship, Ilcewicz had handed Foster her only defeat of the season. For now, though, there's a definite hitch in her getalong.

Providence junior Amanda Noonan gave Foster a good run before falling 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 in the semifinals. Noonan claimed third place as Ilcewicz had retired.

"I played her earlier in the season and it was a close match," Noonan said. "In the second set, I came out strong and stayed consistent."

Battling through her illness, Foster gave it her best shot against Altansarnai. The Plainfield North sophomore had finished second to Foster in last year's sectional and had dropped four of five previous decisions to her over the last two seasons, though she had hamstring issues during two meetings this season.

Under the lights Saturday, however, she was on top of her game in the second and third sets.

"Jackie took a set to warm up after sitting all those hours," North coach Mary Gucinski said. "She wanted it real bad.

"She is a solid player who moves the ball around. She has personality on court and a arsenal of shots. Plus, she has matured a lot since last year. I'm extremely proud of her."

The Porters will send 5 girls to to the state tournament on Thursday.  Qualifying for the Porters were singles player Haley Ilicewicz Jr.--4th place.  On the Doubles side, it was a Porter battle for third; Abigail Plecki (So.)/Kelsey Forkin (Fr.) bested Krissy Kozak (Sr.)/Becky Stanford (Jr.)  Good luck to all of these players!