Willowbrook stays focused vs. Fenton

Heading into a week with a match against Downers Grove South in the West Suburban Conference Gold Division looming on Tuesday, it would have been easy for Willowbrook boys tennis team to overlook a nonconference dual meet at Fenton on Monday.

However, having seen Fenton at a quadrangular meet at Addison Trail earlier in the year, Willowbrook remained focused on its way to a 5-2 win.

"Playing against Fenton, we knew that they were very strong at the top," Willowbrook coach Eddie De La Cruz said. "(Fenton coach) Adam Petersen does a great job with his players, so I told my guys they had to hunker down. It's a big week, so just staying healthy Monday through Thursday is a big deal, but I have all the respect in the world for Fenton."

Willowbrook did the majority of its damage in singles play with juniors Mike Sommers and Khateeb Raza on the Nos. 1 and 2, respectively.

Sommers defeated Fenton's Josh Jalowiec 6-0, 6-0. Raza also managed a straight-sets victory over Isaac Carillo 6-1, 6-1. Senior Jeff Rios emerged victorious in his No. 3 singles match against Martin Solis 6-2, 6-1 to complete the sweep.

"After matches I usually give someone match of the day or player of the day, but today my MVP was all our singles," De La Cruz said. "This was the first time all year we had No. 1 through No. 3 singles all win on the same day."

In doubles play Fenton rebounded nicely. Erwin Lauric and Val Flores got revenge with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Leo Mares and Raffay Siddig, who had defeated them in a match earlier this season at the Addison Trail quad.

"That was kind of a redemption match for them," Petersen said of his top doubles pairing's play. "I think these guys were definitely looking forward to that match."

At No. 2 doubles Fenton managed its second victory when Joe Andrews and Remington Bedoya managed a super-tiebreaker win over Joe Draws and Tony Pauletti 7-5, 2-6, 10-5.

Willowbrook closed the match with wins at No. 3 doubles by Matt Buhr and Matt D'Allessandro over Nick Nauar and Victor Sanchez 6-2, 6-0 and at No. 4 doubles by Adel Labadi and Andre Clark over Alex Daszek and David Vazquez 6-0, 6-4.