Patient Prospect taking control in MSL East

First-year Prospect tennis coach Tom Kujawa is closing in on the first Mid-Suburban League East title of his young career.

The former Prospect singles star watched his team win its second consecutive close dual with a divisional rival to help keep the Knights a perfect 4-0 in the East.

Unlike recently when the Knights used a clean sweep of singles against Buffalo Grove to earn a 4-3 victory, it was a strong effort from the Knights' doubles lineup which fueled a 4-3 triumph Wednesday afternoon at Rolling Meadows.

"It was a little tougher today because we had to come back from a long delay, but we got an important win from Alex Yoo, who continues to get better with each outing at No. 2 singles," said Kujawa.

Everybody need to scurry indoors when the lightning detectors sounded with three matches still in progress.

After waiting nearly an hour, defending MSL champ Mack Galvin finally topped Knights four-year standout Carson Burke in straight sets to bring the hosts within 3-2.

Yoo outlasted Prithi Ramesh 6-2, 6-4 to clinch the Knights' victory for good, with the Meadows No. 3 team of Mark Pham and Abinov Goli earning a hard-fought 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win against Sean Roberts and Stephen Schmidt.

"I don't think it was easy for both of us to sit around for an hour, then come out and play, and it had to be especially tough for Carson, who's a great player, to see match point tip over the net after playing a great second set," said Galvin, who will enter the MSL tourney next weekend as the No. 1 seed.

"Yeah, sitting around for an hour wasn't my idea of fun," said Burke, "but if I had played the first set like my second, maybe it goes to three sets.

"I came out in that second set with the attitude that there was nothing to lose, so I played free and easy, got a break early on, and stayed right there with Mack, who is the best in the conference thus far."

Kujuwa had high praise for the senior Yoo, as well as his doubles teams at No. 1 and 2.

"Alex has been a terrific student in that he's adapted to his role at our No. 2 guy, and he just continues to listen and work on the things we talk about," Kujawa said. "He's been our most improved player."

"As for Sam (Tambeaux) and Ralph (Tenuta) at No. 1, it was great to see them bounce back from that tough loss the other day to Buffalo Grove, it's a good sign as we head into the tournament. Ryan Weiler and Ryan Cecala showed they could play at a high level with their win against Buffalo Grove, and again today with a nice two-set win."

Tambeaux and Tenuta, who were the No. 1 team last season for the Knights, were in command all the way against Tejo Nutalapati and Matt Kudla in a 6-0, 6-2 decision.

"We know we're capable of being a top team," said Tambeaux, "and even against Buffalo Grove, we were right there with them but we didn't take advantage of opportunities to finish off points."

Added Tenuta: "We've lost to Buffalo Grove twice thus far, but we still feel like we can be a No. 2 seed next weekend, and if we continue to play well, we'll look to have a chance at playing them for a conference title."

Junior Andrew Lee (No. 3) gave the Mustangs their other win at singles with a 6-2, 6-0 triumph over Keaton Keller.