St. Charles North sweeps Geneva
Disappointment can make a team bitter or better.
That was the choice facing St. Charles North last May 17. The North Stars led Batavia, whom they defeated in a dual meet May 8, by one point and trailed St. Charles East by one point in the Upstate Eight River Division boys tennis standings when the Bulldogs overtook North and East by a point in a tension-filled 2014 conference tournament, earning Batavia its third straight league title.
To their credit, the North Stars have used that painful experience as added motivation in 2015. Despite losing seven seniors to graduation, North has ripped off victories in 11 of its first 12 dual meets. The North Stars are perfect in UEC River play, improving to 3-0 after a 7-0 sweep of Geneva on Tuesday in Geneva.
North now leads the conference with 21 team points courtesy of 7-0 wins over West Chicago, Larkin and the Vikings.
The victory over Geneva sets up a crucial first-place clash with Batavia on Thursday at North. The Bulldogs are also 3-0 but trail the North Stars by two points in the league standings with 19 team points.
Geneva has played both teams, having lost 5-2 to Batavia on April 23. Vikings coach Zach Evans said the dual should produce some great tennis.
"I wish I could go watch that one," Evans joked. "That'll be a very interesting matchup. Both teams are good at singles especially, and their doubles will match up very closely. It's hard to guess who will win that day."
North certainly made a strong impression on Evans and the Vikings. The North Stars dropped just two games in the three singles matches behind victories by No. 1 Aaron Amburgey (6-0, 6-0 over Christian Fournier), No. 2 Matt Kramer (6-1, 6-1 over Mike Guffey) and No. 3 freshman Ajay Gustafson (6-0, 6-0 over Jacob Stellick).
North also won in straight sets at third doubles, where David Montgomery and Dillon Randazzo prevailed 6-1, 6-1 over Adam Said and Seth Dickinson, and fourth doubles courtesy of a 6-2, 6-1 victory by Jack Callaghan and Alex Gruber over Will Youman and Kyle Berteaux.
The North Stars completed the sweep behind a pair of three-set wins. Luke Dunteman and Matt Ernst rallied for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory over Brad Burgess and Nick Simone at first doubles, and Tom Ninan and Trevor Kurtzhals bounced back to beat Canan Ciesielski and Mitch Adams 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 at second doubles.
"We were struggling in the first set to keep balls in play. They were hitting some big serves," said Dunteman, who moved up from fourth doubles last season to join Ernst, who transitioned from first singles to doubles. The pairing has worked to the tune of a 9-3 season record. "We kind of attacked the net more after that set. We knew if we could take care of the net we would be fine. We both have good hands at the net."
North's fast start - its only dual-meet loss was 3-2 to Normal U-High, ranked among the state's top 10 teams, with Amburgey sitting out to rest up for an invitational the next day - has been a pleasant surprise for coach Sean Masoncup.
"Today was another big step for us," Masoncup said. "Singles has been our strength this year, but our doubles is starting to pick it up, too. Our doubles is deep; our third doubles is capable of beating our first doubles. This year was the hardest year for me to set a lineup. We lost seven seniors, and a lot of the kids took it upon themselves to play a lot in the off-season, which made it hard for me to set the lineup. They've exceeded my expectations, and they're a true team, too. Guys go straight to watch their teammates play and support them right after they're done playing. They treat this as a team sport."
Geneva continues a brutal stretch of its schedule on Thursday when it hosts St. Charles East, last year's UEC River runner-up, on the heels of dual meets with Batavia and St. Charles North. The Vikings (5-4, 1-2 UEC River) also notched a 4-3 victory over South Elgin on Monday.
Evans is using the challenging schedule as an opportunity give his youthful squad valuable lessons for the future. The Vikings start just two seniors, both of which are at first doubles.
"I tell them to stay positive," Evans said. "Win or lose, if they gave their all, that's all that matters. We have a lot of first-year varsity players on our team. This is a good learning experience and shows us what we need to work on in order to succeed at the varsity level. North was a good test for us. They're extremely well coached. They have good fundamentals, strategy and they stay calm no matter what's happening in the match."