Public champ upsets 5-8 seed

Public League champion Gia McKnight is one of three players who will represent the city in the fourth round of singles competition at the girls tennis state meet today at Rolling Meadows.

McKnight, a Morgan Park senior who is a 17-32 seed, did not lose a game in winning her first two matches Thursday at Schaumburg. In the third round, she defeated 5-8 seed Mia Elmore of Springfield 6-3, 6-3. Today, McKnight (18-1) goes against Woodlands Academy's Annie Sullivan.

Joining McKnight will be University sophomore Gabbie Clark, who overcame gusty winds to defeat Jacobs senior Annie Smith 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 in the third round.

''It feels really good because I've been working really hard this year,'' said Clark, who faces York junior Kelly Barry today. ''It shows that I've improved.''

Clark (18-3), who likes to charge the net, never had played in such blustery conditions, and the wind played havoc with her volleys early when she fell behind 4-1.

''It didn't seem to bother her too much,'' University coach Gerold Hanck said. ''She adjusted to the wind a bit better in the second set and kind of ran away with the third. This past year she's played a lot of USTA tournaments, and her game has improved by leaps and bounds.''

Clark, a 9-16 seed, credited her tenacity for the victory over Smith.

''I just reached the point where I knew if I wanted to keep playing in the main draw of the tournament, I basically had to play better,'' Clark said. ''Winning the second set gave me a lot of momentum. After I won the first two games in the third set, I felt I was in my zone.''

Now Clark is just two wins away from becoming the first Pioneer to win a state tennis medal.

Top-seeded Elizabeth Epstein breezed through three matches while losing just two games. The Francis Parker junior, last year's runner-up, takes a 29-0 record into her fourth-round match against Geneva sophomore Kayla Fujimoto.

''The hardest thing in the wind is to be steady, so I just tried to be consistent and move the best I could,'' Epstein said. ''I think I'm playing really well. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully Saturday.''