advertisement

Wheaton Academy narrowly defeats St. Francis

Even without being in the same conference anymore, Wheaton Academy and St. Francis still enjoy their local rivalry, and what better way to continue the rivalry than a close season-opening boys tennis match.

Behind a narrow second-set tiebreaker win in the No. 2 singles spot from junior Colin Anderson for his first varsity win, the Warriors (1-0) defeated the Spartans 3-2 at St. Francis on Tuesday.

Anderson and Ethan Dean battled in both sets with Anderson coming out on top 7-5 in the first. Anderson said he just tried to keep the ball in play to take a 7-6, 7-4 tiebreaker two-set win.

"Lot of pressure," Anderson said even without knowing it was the game winning match. "I was struggling with actually keeping the ball in a lot of times, making a lot of mistakes, but I think staying consistent was my main goal. What was working for me was just keeping it in."

The two teams started with a split at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. That left the No. 1 and No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles to finish.

With a close win in the first set, Nick Kovach and Brett Eichenberger defeated brothers Chris and Jonah Jones 6-3 in the second set to win the No. 1 doubles match.

But just after the doubles win, freshman Ty Krill completed his impressive 6-2, 6-3 win over Chris Checko, who put in a great effort despite how the match turned out.

Krill, the biggest kid on the court, used his size and frame to his advantage, ripping off a couple of nice serves and shots during the match.

"Ty has two speeds. It's either super-fast or stop, and he goes after every single ball," said Warriors coach Chris Jones. "He'll learn to control that because when you're playing against some seniors there's going to be some players that are going to learn to defend against that. So if he's off a little bit he'll have to learn to adjust, but he's an incredibly talented player."

The match didn't turn out how he would have liked, but Spartans coach Rick Huffman said it will be a good day to learn from.

"It's always disappointing when you lose a match, especially one you feel is winnable," Huffman said. "Our guys just have to be a little tougher. My hat's off to them, they hustled a little more and got a couple of wins there. Close win at second singles and close match at second doubles. Either of those matches I think either team is capable of winning."

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.