Boys tennis / Scouting the Mid-Suburban League tournament

Boys tennis / Scouting the Mid-Suburban League tournament

Host: Rolling Meadows

When: Thursday through Saturday

Venues: Rolling Meadows (Nos. 1 and 2 singles); Prospect (No. 2 singles, No. 2 doubles), Palatine (Nos. 3/4 doubles). Finals at Rolling Meadows on Saturday.

Top seedsNo. 1 singles: Mack Galvin (Rolling Meadows), Ishaan Jaglin (Barrington), David Chon (Palatine), Markos Christoforou (Elk Grove).

No. 1 doubles: Barrington (Scott Apmann-Matt Mulligan), Wheeling (Iam Yeluri-Eugene Yakubovich), Conant (Matt Meyers-Glenn Huang), Hersey (Owen Connor-Patryk Kot).

First serveBarrington is defending champ and is a strong favorite to grab a third straight championship trophy late Saturday afternoon. But on the eve of the conference tournament, MSL East champion Hersey hopes to have its own fair share of high achievement, too.

Prospect has been a consistent East winner over the years, with Buffalo Grove and Rolling Meadows stepping forward on occasion. But this spring it's been Hersey's show, as the Huskies have a spotless 14-0-0 overall record and a perfect 5-0-0 finish behind them, including a 5-0 shutout of defending division champ Prospect. "Our athletic director did some checking, and we asked around with others, and this is the first division title for our boys program in school history," said Hersey coach Andy Walton. "Hard to believe, but true. We don't have the high-level players, but what we do have is a strong, middle and lower part of our lineup, which has been the key to our success. But what our strong suit really is, is how hard the guys play, and with a lot of hustle and emotion." Walton says Vanya Navratil (8-0) at No. 2 singles has been a rock all season long, coming through with one big win after another on sheer determination, while the Huskies' No. 2 doubles team of Tim Griffin-Adam Johnson (8-0) are a dynamic duo who play smart, simple tennis. Walton's doubles teams are a combined 19-1 in the division, while singles stand at 11-4.

Aidan Burke, who was half of the Huskies' No. 4 team last spring which finished third overall, holds down the No. 3 singles position, while Patryk Kot, third a year ago here at No. 3 singles, partners with Owen Connor as the club's No. 1 doubles team.

"It's a great team to be around and to coach, and this tournament will be a great opportunity to finish high in the conference standings," Walton said "The guys are really looking forward to the challenge ahead. We're after a top three finish, that's for sure, and if we can a lot of our guys into championship matches, the weekend will be a success."

Walton and his coaching counterparts Jim Lange (Palatine) and Dave Koleno (Conant) all figure they will be chasing John Roncone and his Barrington club.

"Barrington is the clear No. 1 in my mind, and after that, there's a lot of parity, which should make for a good race for a top-three trophy," says Lange, who has a quality player at No. 1 in David Chon (12-4, 6-2). "Mack (Galvin) and Ishaan (Jaglan) are the two best at singles in this conference, but David has played Mack, Ishaan, Brett Mayers (Neuqua Valley) and Nick Meiser of the Latin School very tough, and along with a few other players from around the league it should be a competitive field at No. 1."

Galvin, a junior, is after his third straight title at No. 1 singles and is the MSL's best bet for a long run in the state tournament in two weeks.

Barrington earned top seeds at four of the seven flights, including his top two doubles teams, who were undefeated during the MSL campaign.

Scott Apmann/Matt Mulligan (14-3) were recently crowned consolation champs at the Pitchford 32. They beat out Wheeling, Conant and Hersey for the top seed at No. 1, while teammates Zach Hennefent/Vijay Tripuraneni (12-3) find themselves atop the heap at No. 2 at the start of the weekend.

Mulligan and Tripuraneni teammed up last spring to capture the first-place trophy at No. 2, while Hennefent earned the first-place prize at No. 3 a year ago to help the Broncos to a 12-point victory in the team race.

"We were pleased with the way the seeds went down in our meeting on Tuesday, but now we have to go out and play some quality tennis in order to beat the field this weekend," said Roncone. "We haven't seen some of the teams in our brackets this season, so there's always that unknown factor. But if the guys play to the way they are capable of, good things should come our way at the end of this tournament."

Last year's champ at No. 2 singles (Mohammed Walji) gives the Broncos a powerful 1-2 punch at the top of the singles lineup. Jaglan (18-5), Walji (19-3) and Apmann/Mulligan each were consolation champions at the prestigious Pitchford two weekends ago.

It's a highly competitive bunch at first doubles. The field includes a Wheeling team which has lost just once this season, as well as Matt Meyers and Glenn Huang from Conant, who are 15-4 overall, and a sparkling 7-1 in league play. Meyers was a state qualifier in 2014 alongside Connor Saks, who won 11 matches during his first year at Millikin University.

Play-in matches Thursday will be played at all four venues, with the action starting Friday as soon as players arrive from their respective schools.

All seven finals will take place at Rolling Meadows on Saturday, with an expected start at noon.

Central Suburban NorthHost: Deerfield

When: Friday 3:30 p.m., Saturday 8:30 a.m.

For coach Derrick Swistak and his team from Maine West, the race in this tough conference is for fourth place behind superpowers Deerfield, Glenbard North and Highland Park, who will see each other next weekend in perhaps the toughest of all sectionals in the state this spring. "My top three have played at both singles and dubs all season long, so they've been able to get experience against all sorts of talented opponents, which I hope will help them this weekend," says Swistak. The Warriors coach will split-up his 2014 state team of Patrick Czuj (13-5) and Henry Nguyen (15-5) and make them his Nos. 1 and 2 at singles this weekend, while his top newcomer, freshmen Jason Elengical (15-5), will handle things at No. 3.

Over at doubles, it looks like the duo of Jackson Torkelson/Miguel Hernandez will take on a terrific field at No. 1, while their teammates Ivan Stoitzev and Jeff Celenza are entered as the Warriors' No. 2.

"We're looking forward to this weekend, and we feel that our top three are equal to or better than both Niles North and Maine East, so the hope is to come away with a fourth-place finish," says Swistak.

- Mike Garofola