Batavia sweeps doubles to edge Marmion
Andrew Nelson and Adam Maris had the ultimate tiebreaker for the Batavia tennis team on Monday afternoon in Aurora.
The Bulldogs and host Marmion were tied in the schools' nonconference dual meet, but the No. 1 Batavia team outlasted the Cadets' Dave Demoll and Luke Hass, 6-4, 5-7 and 6-2, to give Batavia a 4-3 triumph.
It was the second straight year Batavia swept the four doubles matches against the Cadets to earn a razor-thin victory.
"We were both a little sick," said Maris. "We didn't want to lose and be sick. We got a little more aggressive (in the third set)."
"It was good to fight back and get the win," Nelson said. "We weren't sure (what the team score was). No one told us about it."
The Bulldogs' second tandem of Emerson Hinzy and James Carr provided the Bulldogs with their initial match won with a straight-sets victory over the Cadets' Valen and Bennett Piotrowski.
The victory was critically needed for Batavia after Marmion singles players John King, Danny Stueland and Benjamin Touhey won in six combined sets at Nos. 1-3, respectively.
King, a two-time individual state qualifier for Marmion, improved to 9-1 on the season at first singles for Marmion.
"It took me a couple of games before I could start cranking it," said King, who stopped Bulldog counterpart Josh Boyle by identical scores of 6-2. "I like to hit from the baseline. I try to mix it up and come to the net as much as I can. I try to be a threat from all areas of the court."
"Mr. King is doing some historic things for our program," Marmion coach John Tsang said of his star junior.
Stueland had few issues in his first set against Nick Robinson, but the freshman needed a tiebreaker in the second set to complete the sweep.
"It was 5-6 in the second game, and I won that to get a lot of confidence," Stueland said.
Touhey also captured his third singles match by matching scores of 6-3.
But Batavia (8-3) rebounded behind the second through fourth doubles.
The Bulldogs deadlocked the Cadets (5-3) when third partners Patrick Hanrahan and Tommy Maren turned back Kyle Yorke and Sharbel Ramonos after dropping the opening set.
In the previous final at fourth doubles, the Bulldogs' Gunnar Malm and Kevin Fiddelke dropped but 4 combined games in their straight-sets win.
The match would thus come down to the first unit.
Hass and Demoll rallied to force a decisive first set, but Maris and Nelson led from start to finish.
"I just felt that they took control of the third set," Batavia coach Brad Nelson said of his son and Maris. "We came up with some big serves and didn't make many mistakes. We kept our cool out there. They are a great team. I'm proud of the way we came back."