Scouting DuPage County boys tennis
Top teams: Hinsdale Central, Downers Grove South, Benet, Neuqua Valley, Naperville Central, Naperville North, Wheaton Warrenville South.
Top players: Benet: Riley Marshall, jr.; Patrick McGuigan, so.; Stephen Kovach, sr.; Pete Mannebach, sr.; Jack Carroll, fr.; Downers Grove North: Mike Yong, sr.; Downers Grove South: Tony Leto, sr.; Christian San Andres, jr.; Zach Wood, jr.; Lawrence Hiquiana, so.; Glenbard South: Brendan Colgan, sr.; Avi Panjwani, jr. Glenbard West: Nate Dell, jr.; Steven Hanna, sr.; Matthew Lipnica, sr.; Hinsdale Central: Edward Grabill, sr.; Michael Czlonka, jr.; Lope Adelakun, sr.; Nick Calzolano, jr.; Hinsdale South: Peter Alex, so.; Rohan Chinwalla, jr. Lake Park: Piotr Lada, jr.; Metea Valley: Kyle Chin, sr,; Avery Holt, so.; Jeremy Forbes, sr.; Naperville Central: Bill Zhang, so.; Kevin Yiu, jr.; Naperville North: Rohit Rastogi, sr,; Kirk Williams, so.; Jake Kokoris, sr.; Kevin Zhang, fr.; Neuqua Valley: Amit Iyer, sr.; Brett Meyers, jr.; Jackson Keating, so; Jack Monovich, jr.; Hayden Sass, sr. St. Francis: Nick Kovach, so.; Chris Chacko, sr.; Timothy Christian: Nathan Daniels, so.; Waubonsie Valley: Suveer Kothuri, so.; Anthony Nguyen, fr.; Wheaton Academy: Chris Jones, sr.; Ty Krill, fr.; Jonah Jones, so.; Wheaton Warrenville South: Charlie McDonough, jr.; Zach Orlove, sr.; Andy Page, sr.; York: Brendan Peterson, sr.; Jake Shostak, sr.; Spencer Kost, sr.; Alex Riddle, sr.
Scouting report: Benet coach Michael Hand believes this could be the most talent the Redwings have had going into a season than at any time in his long tenure as boys tennis coach. "We return both doubles teams that qualified for the state tournament," Hand said, "and we have great developing depth and a terrific freshman in Carroll. There's no clear-cut one doubles or one singles. We have a lot of interchangeable parts. That gives me a lot of options." There's so much talent here that Hand doesn't think the Redwings can go wrong no matter how the lineup shakes out. The Redwings should compete for a conference championship, and they face a more demanding schedule that will help prepare the team for the postseason. "All the kids worked hard in the off-season," Hand said. "We're ready to take this puppy out for a ride to see what happens."
While he can field a sectional team of potential state qualifiers, qualifying became more difficult this year because Naperville Central has been added to the already loaded Naperville North sectional. The Redhawks, who like Benet finished in the Top 20 at state last year, will again be locked in a battle for DuPage Valley Conference supremacy with archrival Naperville North and Wheaton Warrenville South, which has a deep, senior-laden team. Last year Naperville Central won its fifth straight DVC crown, but a pair of state-qualifying doubles teams graduated. The singles lineup led by Bill Zhang, who took both the conference and sectional titles and did well at state as a freshman, returns. "Bill is a power player who has developed more of an all-court game," said Naperville Central coach Dan Brown. "He takes control of points really well. We expect him to be even better this year." For the past six years the Redhawks have qualified two doubles teams and at least one singles player for state, but this year will be more of a challenge because of the talent-filled sectional. "We're deep, but we're young," Brown said. "The singles lineup is strong, but our success could rest on the development of some really promising doubles players. We have nine candidates for the doubles spots."
Naperville North, which finished second in the DVC, 2 points behind the Redhawks, is poised to go for the title this year with quality players throughout the lineup. "This is the most polished team I've had," said Huskies coach Heather Henricksen. "The boys' knowledge of the game and their attitude toward the game is outstanding. We haven't had that maturity on the court from top to bottom. We don't have a superstar, but we're strong at every position." Freshman Kevin Zhang will make an immediate impact, while Rastogi and Williams are returning state qualifiers.
Wheaton Warrenville South qualifier McDonough will have competition for the first-singles job. Page, who made it to state his freshman year and then skipped high school tennis for two years to play in USTA tournaments, returns to give the Tigers a great 1-2 punch. Orlove leads a group of doubles players who will challenge the Napervilles in DVC matches. "We're strong at the top of the lineup and we have good depth and experience," said Tigers coach Patti Clousing. "I think we're in the running for the conference."
Neuqua Valley once again is the team to beat in the Upstate Eight Conference. The Wildcats finished 12th in state last year, and coach Trudy Bennorth has the horses to get back into the top 10. A formidable lineup that is led by battle-tested veterans like Iyer and Meyers will be augmented by the arrival of three freshmen who will be immediate starters. "We have incredible depth," Bennorth said. "We've never had three freshmen on the varsity. Last year we didn't do as well as I thought we would at state. But our returning players are a year older and better. We just have to put the right doubles teams together."
Waubonsie Valley with two standouts, Kothuri and the freshman Nguyen leading the way will provide a greater challenge to the Wildcats this year. "Most of our doubles lineup is back," said Waubonsie coach Phil Galow. "And they're being challenged by some good younger players. We have two No. 1 singles. This is potentially the best team we've had in years. We'd love to challenge Neuqua for the title."
Of course, three-time state champion Hinsdale Central with singles titlist Grabill at the head of the lineup is the team to beat in the West Suburban Silver, the sectional and in the state tournament. "Mentally, Grabill is the toughest kid I've ever seen," said Red Devils coach John Naisbitt. "He doesn't give an opponent anything. He's ruthless. He's a grinder who says, 'I'll be out there for as long as it takes to defeat you. And I will defeat you.'" Czlonka and Adelakun, who went to second and fourth, respectively, with other partners, will be teamed up this year. They're both great doubles players. We have a lot of young kids who will get the opportunity to step into the lineup. We have depth and we're going to show up and fight and work hard in practice to go for a fourth straight title."
Downers Grove South, which finished fourth at state last year, has the firepower to go after the Red Devils this year. The Mustangs host the sectional that now includes Hinsdale Central, which is bad news for teams such as York, Glenbard West and Hinsdale South and their hopes of getting some of their fine players to state. Leto took sixth place in state at singles. He's solid from the baseline and has a terrific first strike. He can return with the best of them and he has great hands and court vision. San Andres was ninth at state. The past two years Mustangs coach Peter Freischlag called him "the best freshman" and then "the best sophomore I've coached." The Mustangs are also strong at doubles with qualifiers Wood and Hiquiana providing the star power. "Our goal is to win state," Freischlag said. "We definitely have the talent with four all-state kids, two singles players in the top six."
Among the smaller schools, Glenbard South, Wheaton Academy, St. Francis and Timothy Christian will all be fighting for conference titles, and all have potential state qualifiers who could miss out on the state tournament due to the incredible strength in the Downers Grove South and Naperville North sectionals.
Key dates: April 7: Wheaton Academy at St. Francis; April 11: Benet/Downers Grove South Team Tournament; April 14: Neuqua Valley at Benet; April 18: Naperville North Invitational; April 25 Downers Grove South Invitational; Hinsdale Central Invitational; April 23: Glenbard South at Timothy Christian; April 28 Naperville Central at Naperville North; May 6: Naperville North at Neuqua Valley; May 13 Naperville Central at Neuqua Valley; May 15-16 Conference Tournaments: May 11: Naper Valley Invite; May 22-23 sectionals; May 28-30 state tournament.