Scouting DuPage County boys tennis
Top teams: Hinsdale Central, Naperville Central, Benet, Downers Grove South, Hinsdale South, Neuqua Valley, Naperville North.
Top players: Benet: Riley Marshall, sr.; Patrick McGuigan, jr.; Jack Carroll, so.; Downers Grove North: Brandon Fulmer, sr.; Parker Holyn jr.; Downers Grove South: Christian San Andreas, sr.; Zach Wood, sr.; Lawrence Hiquiana, jr.; Glenbard South: Avi Panjwani, sr.; Alex Bergendorf, fr.; Jared Schwarz, sr.; Ryan Marco, sr.; Glenbard West: Nate Dell, sr.; Hinsdale Central: Zach Elliott, so.; Michael Czlonka, sr.; Nick Calzolano, sr; Joseph Gurevicious, sr.; Hinsdale South: Peter Alex, jr.; Rohan Chinwalla, sr.; Namit Sambare, so.; Joris Bizys, fr.; Lake Park: Piotr Lada, sr.; Josh Solarz, sr,; Brian Woodman, sr.; Metea Valley: Avery Holt, jr.; Vikas Sharma, so.; Montini: Thomas Batka, so.; Naperville Central: Bill Zhang, jr.; Kevin Yiu, sr.; Ryan Roegner, so.; Martin Matov, so.; Naperville North: Kirk Williams, jr.; Jared Williams, so.; Kevin Zhang, so.; Neuqua Valley: Brett Meyer, sr.; Jack Monovich, sr.; Rohan Sanjay, Fr.; Timothy Christian: Nathan Daniels, jr.; Waubonsie Valley: Suveer Kothuri, jr.; Anthony Nguyen so.; Pranadeep Akurati, jr.; Dylan Mikaili, jr.; Wheaton Academy: Ty Krill, so.; Jonah Jones, jr.; Owen Setran, fr.; Wheaton North: Kevin Li, fr.; Chase Bremner, fr.; Wheaton Warrenville South: Charlie McDonough, sr.; Jack Lillig, sr.; York: Jacob Wit, fr.; Lucas Gough, sr.
Scouting report: Naperville Central coach Dan Brown was expecting this to be a good year. The Redhawks would compete for the DuPage Valley Conference title that eluded them for the first time in four years. At the head of his lineup would be the outstanding Zhang, who finished in the top 32 at state last year and in the top 16 as a freshman. And he had some good veteran players including Yiu, who just missed making it to state, to give him the nucleus of a strong doubles lineup. And then serendipity struck. Matov, a top-flight player who has been incapacitated by four knee surgeries, showed up healthy and ready to play. Freshman Ammaar Saeed, a "future state qualifier" joined the team ready to contribute, and, perhaps most significantly Roegner, a highly ranked player with USTA tournament experience, is now a Redhawk after moving with his family to Naperville from North Carolina. Suddenly people are talking about Naperville Central as possibly one of the top teams in the state of Illinois. While the Redhawks still have a distance to go to challenge defending four-time state champion Hinsdale Central for Land of Lincoln supremacy, Brown's troops are looking "pretty, pretty, pretty good" this year. "Zhang and Roegner will share first singles," Brown said. "We have good depth at doubles. We have to find the right partnerships. On paper this is the best team that I've had going into the season." While the prospects look rosy, the Redhawks still have to survive the powerful DVC, which is even tougher now with Metea Valley, Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley joining the league. At first glance, Naperville North and Neuqua Valley are expected to provide the greatest obstacles to the Redhawks' conference title plans.
Defending DVC champion Naperville North doesn't have a returning state qualifier, but the Huskies do have a lot of starters coming back and a good group of lower classmen moving up. "We're a young team but we have experience," coach Heather Henricksen said. "We won't be a DVC favorite, but we could pull an upset because we're deep, have good chemistry and the boys have a strong commitment to the game." The Williams brothers join forces at first doubles and their goal is to make it to state.
Neuqua Valley comes to the DVC with what seems like 150 straight Upstate Eight Conference titles. And it is the Wildcats who should furnish the greatest challenge to the Redhawks and Huskies. Meyer, a top 32 finisher at state and natural team leader, gives Neuqua a star at the top of the lineup, while the crafty Monovich and outstanding newcomer Sanjay headline the doubles group. "We'll be strong and we have depth," coach Trudy Bennorth said, "but we still have a lot of work do. Playing against the Napervilles will be tough."
Wheaton Warrenville South, which always presents a big challenge at the end of the season, is blessed with a pair of great singles players, McDonough and Lillig. McDonough, who has a wide variety of shots, finished top 20 at state, and he's taken his smart, consistent game up a level by adding power. Lillig is looking for a big year after missing his junior season with a broken finger. "Beyond those two we have some good players," coach Patti Clousing said. "But everyone is fighting for spots. It would be terrific if we could finish in the top half of the conference."
Also fighting for first-division slots will be newcomers Waubonsie Valley and Metea Valley, Wheaton North and Lake Park. Waubonsie Valley could be a factor in the final standings with four state qualifiers returning in singles Kothuri and Nguyenand the doubles team of Akurati and Mikaili, and there's not a senior in the bunch. Kothuri is a heady player who needs power, while Nguyen hits hard and needs consistency. They're benefiting from facing each other every day in practice. Akurati and Mikaili were successful in their debut season together and they're looking to go further this year. "Given our talent and experience," coach Phil Galow said, "we're building toward competing with the contenders. If we get our guys playing as a team we should be good for a few years."
Wheaton North and Lake Park look to be improved over last year. Lake Park's Solarz is a proven state-meet player, while the doubles team of Woodman and Lada know the doubles game and they have their eyes on state. "They bring out the best in each other," coach Tim Martin said. Highly regarded freshmen Li and Bremner are expected to lead Wheaton North back to the upper echelon of the DVC. The Falcons have a slew of reliable veterans behind them, including the potential state-qualifying doubles team of Grant O'Connell and Jack Woods, and the versatile Bunch Ros and Ryan Berg. "We hope to finish top three in conference," coach Eric Laird said. "The conference is very strong this year, but we'd like to knock one of the big guys off."
Metea Valley rests its hopes on some talented young players such as returning state qualifier Holt, who will fight it out with standout teammate Sharma for No. 1 singles. There are a lot of good young players behind them, making the Mustangs a team to watch for the future.
Benet, which is again one of the stronger teams in Illinois, is led by Marshall and McGuigan, who as a duo finished in the top 24 last year. McGuigan will try his hand at singles this year where he will fight it out with the athletic Carroll, who missed most of last year "Carroll and McGuigan are neck and neck," said Benet coach Michael Hand. "Carroll is a natural. I've seen him do things on a tennis court that I haven't seen in a while. But McGuigan is right there with him and he's grown 4 inches since last year. Marshall is a great four-year doubles player who's aggressive and enjoys playing at the net." Hand believes the Redwings have a good shot at winning conference and they have their eye on challenging for the sectional title.
Hinsdale Central is going after its fifth straight state championship, but with the graduation loss of state singles champion Martin Joyce and Eddie Grabill, coach John Naisbett has some slots to fill. Returning state scorers Elliott, Czlonka and Calzolano gives the Red Devils the winning nucleus to carry on. "The guys we lost were incredibly special," Naisbett said. "But we have some untested talent and we'll see if they're up to the challenge to fill the void. We'll give it a shot."
Glenbard West is led by Dell, a three-time state qualifier, and a trio of top-drawer freshmen. "We have five freshmen coming up and we're going to throw them into the fire right away and expect them to learn," coach Tad Keely said. "We'll take our lumps early, but at the end I think we'll be better than last year."
York is rebuilding around standouts Wit and Gough. Downers Grove South, which finished 10th in state last year, is looking for San Andreas to compete for the singles title and a vastly improved Wood and Hiquaina, who were also in the 17-24 group, to be in the mix for the doubles title. "The work our top guys have done in the off-season has put all three at another level," coach Peter Freischlag said. "We'll be deeper and we hope to win conference, but Hinsdale South will also be better." The Hornets' top-48 doubles team of Alex and Chinwalla has been split with Alex playing first-singles and Chinwalla joining Sambare at first doubles. "We have a really strong group of juniors and sophs," coach Steve Snider said. "The guys are hungry to win conference outright."
Glenbard South and Wheaton Academy, last year's 1-2 finishers in the Metro Suburban Conference West, will battle it out once again for the title. Bergendorf and Panjwani are vying for the Raiders' first-singles slot, while Schwarz and Marco make a savvy first-doubles duo. Wheaton Academy will counter with a pair of aces in Krill, who went 25-3 as a freshman, and track star Jones. In the Metro Suburban East defending champion Timothy Christian has most of its starters back and is in good position to repeat. Daniels should be something special.
Key dates: April 5: Naperville Central at Hinsdale Central; April 7: Wheaton North at Wheaton Warrenville South; April 9: Downers Grove South/Benet Invite; April 12 Neuqua valley at Naperville Central; Wheaton Warrenville South at Lake Park; April 13: Downers Grove South at Naperville Central; Benet at Neuqua Valley; April 14: Waubonsie Valley at Neuqua Valley April 16 Naperville North Invite; Glenbard West Invite; April 21: Timothy Christian at Glenbard South; April 23, Downers Grove South Invite; April 26: Wheaton Warrenville South at Waubonsie Valley; April 28: Naperville Central at Naperville North; Glenbard South at Wheaton Academy; May 6-7: Naper Valley Invite; May 13-14 Conference Tournaments; May 21: Sectionals; May 26-28: State Tournament.