CHS tennis No. 2 doubles Anisa Faroh and Lauren Pilarski head to regional undefeated and unburdened by the pressure that rests on the head of the school that wears the state crown: South Bend St. Joseph

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

The negativity police officer surveils Lauren Pilarski’s every move on the tennis court and doesn’t let even the smallest infraction go unnoticed. Every cue is acted upon. Every frown. Every head hang. Every sign of self-doubt.
Negativity cop Anisa Faroh, Pilarski’s partner on Chesterton’s No. 2 doubles team that heads to the regional round undefeated, has made a positive mark on her partner’s spirits.
“She keeps me hyped,” Pilarski said of Faroh. “She keeps me so energized that if I get down on myself, she’ll say, ‘No, Lauren, stop! You’re doing great.’ And I’ll take a deep breath and say, ‘OK, I got this.’ And she’ll say, ‘Yes, Lauren, you’ve got this.’ She’s a very positive person, and I love that about her.”
Besides, the record shows that even a perfectionist can’t find anything negative about how the Faroh-Pilarski tandem has performed this season.
Tennis, like most sports, is a zero-sum game. For every winner, there is a loser. The girls who were JV doubles partners three years ago, are 20-0 as partners for the varsity. That means Faroh and Pilarski have sent 20 tandems home sad, frustrated, maybe even dragged down by negativity. That’s 20 matches without a single day where both players were off enough for it to cost them. That’s amazing.
The saying “ham and egging it,” in golf means that when one player has a bad hole, the partner has a good one. It comes to mind when Pilarski discussed one of the keys to staying undefeated.
“I think that we both have the same kind of style, but it’s kind of hard to explain,” Pilarski said, then explained it well. “If I’m not having a good day at the net, it seems like she has a really good day at the net. So, it’s like we both kind of like, it’s weird how it works, if I’m not having a good day at something, she makes up for it. And if she’s not having a good day at something, I’ll be having a good day at it.”
Team sports at every level thrive when each player, no matter how talented, strives to be there for a teammate in need and gets credit for being a good team player. That culture resulted in a 29-0 start for a Chesterton boys basketball team that didn’t lose until the state title game. And it’s working for the 20-0 No. 2 doubles team.
Also, playing behind such a talented No. 1 doubles team helps Faroh and Pilarski in multiple ways. Iron sharpens iron, so there’s that. Playing against quick and powerful Amelia Smith and Aleksa Sorgic means the No. 2 team won’t feel overwhelmed by any opponent because they already have faced better. Plus, it keeps the girls from ever encountering overconfidence or complacency because when playing the No. 1 team in practice, the undefeated tandem is winless.
“We may have gotten close once,” Pilarski said.
The favorites advancing to the finals in the four-team LaPorte sectional, would shift Chesterton into the role of underdogs against mighty South Bend St. Joseph. The Huskies have won 16 consecutive sectional titles.
The mere sight of the school’s name crawls into the head of many an opponent before the match even starts. Part of the Huskies’ work already is done. That advantage doesn’t apply this time. Although not as partners, Faroh and Pilarski each has been on the winning side in a doubles match vs. SBSJ.
The Huskies defeated Chesterton 4-1 in a regional semifinal last season and went on to win the state championship. Faroh and then senior Ellery Denny scored the point, winning the No. 2 doubles match in a tiebreaker.
The Huskies again defeated the Trojans 4-1 early this season, before coach Tom Bour juggled his lineup, shifting Sorgic from No. 2 singles to No. 1 doubles and bumping Faroh to No. 2 to team with Pilarski. Both doubles matches came down to tiebreakers, No. 1 Faroh and Smith losing, and No. 2 Pilarski and freshman Kendall Gallion winning.
“It’s definitely different because I played 3 singles last year and St. Joe wiped me completely, so it was definitely super exciting to beat them this year,” Pilarski said.
The weight of the state crown places the pressure on St. Joseph, and maintaining an undefeated record is not the motivator for Chesterton in this one. It’s getting a point in a coinflip of a matchup, hoping the No. 1 doubles does the same in another too-close-to-call match, which would put the Trojans one upset in a singles match away from advancing to semi-state.
In keeping with her upbeat outlook, Faroh views the undefeated record as nothing but a positive for the Trojans.
“Tom writes these amazing articles on (Chesterton) Tennis Weebly and he always throws it in there, so it’s always a good refresher,” Faroh said of Bour, who was a sportswriter decades ago until deciding he had no interest in becoming a multimillionaire and left the chosen profession. “I guess it’s a good confidence booster that we’re undefeated. It’s a good feeling.”
Faroh never had a doubt she and Pilarski would bring out the best in each other.
“We’ve always clicked,” Faroh said. “We were used to playing with each other and of course we did classes together, so we’re a good mix.”
An undefeated mix.