Depth carries Glenbard South to third straight league title

With the Metro Suburban Conference West Division title hanging in the balance Saturday, the Glenbard South boys tennis team got a scare when first-doubles player Brendan Colgan turned an ankle in the second set of the finals.

The Raiders led Wheaton Academy 4-3 at that point.

The trainer wrapped the ankle, and a limping Colgan gamely finished the match, which he and partner Avi Panjwani won 6-1, 6-3 to help lead the Raiders to their third straight conference championship.

"The trainer really helped and I felt well enough to get back and finish it up," said Colgan, who was conference champ at first singles last year. "After that I played mostly at the net and Avi did a great job of covering most of the court. I didn't have to move too much."

"Brendan's serve was popping all day," said Panjwani, who was conference winner at first doubles last year. "I just tried to be aggressive at the net. Overall, we had good ground strokes and volleys."

The duo decided last fall that they would make a good doubles team, and they did a lot of work together in the off-season.

"Avi has faster reflexes, so he's a natural doubles player," Colgan said. "If I get a good serve in, he usually finishes it off."

"First serves have been a strength of theirs all year," said Glenbard South coach Mark Conrad. "They hit a large percentage of them and when they get it in they put pressure on the other team right away."

Colgan and Panjwani are 16-3 as a team this season.

The Raiders won conference titles in four of five flights to finish the Metro Suburban West season with 18.5 points.

Glenbard South won all three doubles matches head-to-head with Wheaton Academy, which finished second with 13.5 points followed by Riverside-Brookfield (7), Fenton (5) and Aurora Central Catholic (4).

The Raiders' Matt Harrington and Ryan Marco won the title at second doubles, and Neal Choksi and Numaan Mahmood were victorious at third doubles.

Kevin Uvodich, seeded third, upset the second and first seeds in the semifinals and finals, respectively, on his way to the second-singles crown.

"We have a group of good athletes," Conrad said. "But it's also important that the kids are mature. They excel at the mental part of the game and they support each other. We have great chemistry."

Wheaton Academy sensational freshman Tyler Krill was the lone non-Glenbard South conference champion, winning the first-singles final 6-1, 6-0 to run his season record to 18-1

"Ty is an aggressive hitter with real good control," said Wheaton Academy coach Chris Jones. "He has a powerful serve and he has become more and more patient and continues to improve all season."

"I was happy with the way I played today," Krill said. "My serve and my forehand were working. They were winning me most of the points."

Krill is looking forward to sectionals next week and a possible top 16 seed in the state tournament.

"This was our first year in the conference," Jones said. "We improved tremendously over the season to be in position to challenge for the conference championship today. This year was really something we can build on."