St. Charles East’s Kelsey Jacob during the Fremd High School tennis invite Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025 in Palatine. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com

As Conant juniors Noelle Koh and Nidhi Karekar fielded questions after a dual meet at Saturday’s Fremd girls tennis invite, a bee flitted and then hovered near the Cougars.

Koh backed up abruptly. Karekar shifted quickly to her left.

“No,” they said in unison when asked if they had been stung at the eight-team tournament held at Fremd and Hoffman Estates.

Conant’s netters had taken care of the stinging business via zippy groundstrokes and put-away volleys on the courts, successfully defending their title with a 3-0 dual-meet record.

And coach Matt Marks’ crew topped the field without the services — and without other parts of their reliable t

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