Boys tennis / Sectional scouting, Northwest

Boys tennis / Sectional scouting, Northwest

at ConantFriday: 2 p.m.

Saturday: 9 a.m.

Guest list: Conant, Elk Grove, Fremd, Hoffman Estates, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, Addison Trail, Fenton.

Courtside chat: Nearly everyone is familiar with each other here, as half of the Mid-Suburban League is in the field and competing. That includes Mack Galvin, who continues to impress over the final two weeks of a superb career at Rolling Meadows.

"Mack has gotten better with each year that he's been with us, but even with him enjoying so much success, he has still remained a tremendous teammate and very gracious opponent who always carries himself with a lot of class, and is a favorite of the coaches who know and watch him play," said Mustangs coach Gary Brodnan after watching the senior win his fourth consecutive MSL title last weekend. Galvin (31-0) heads a strong group at singles who are vying for the three remaining spots available after the four-time MSL champ. The hopefuls include Fremd's Kazuki Matsuno (16-9) , who is coming off a second-place finish behind Galvin gives at the MSL tournament last weekend.

"It's been a little bit of a struggle playing at No. 1 as a freshmen, but you just have to rely on your game to pull you through, and I feel like I've done that for most of the season," said Matsuno. "I feel like I have a good chance to get to state, but I won't take anything for granted this weekend, and will just go out and play my best and if I do, I should be able to qualify."

Another quartet of players from the MSL has state hopes, including 2015 state qualifier Markus Christoforou (10-5) of Elk Grove, who is only now rounding into form after suffering an injury during the soccer season in the fall.

"I've struggled to get my backhand to where I want it to be, but lately it feels so much better than it did at the start of the spring season, so I hoping the experience I gained from making it to state last year, plus being a year older and stronger will be the difference this weekend," he said.

Hoffman Estates sophomore Daniel Lee qualified to state last season as well, and the smooth-hitting Hawks standout has an opportunity to advance, along with two rivals from the division, freshman Vera Iyer of Conant and junior Kevin Eberhart of Schaumburg, who lost to Christoforou (6-3, 7-5) In the consolation semifinals.

At doubles, the picture is a little more clear with the Fremd team of Justin Piotrowski/James Feng (14-9) the No. 1 choice here following their third-place conference performance at the MSL meet, which included a straight-set victory over Conant.

The Conant lineup will have a different look with coach Dave Koleno reuniting his 2015 state team of Niko Rosas and Nikhil Modak in hopes of a state repeat for them. "Those two are very comfortable together, and they enjoy playing doubles together, so it's the perfect match," says Koleno, who will team Ryo Ishiyama and Arjan Rao at No. 2.

at Highland ParkFriday: 1 p.m.

Saturday: 9 a.m.

Guest list: Hersey, Prospect, St. Viator, Wheeling, Deerfield, Glenbrook North, Glenbrook South, Highland Park, Lake Forest.

Courtside chat: Everyone associated with the sport knows this is the most difficult sectional draw of all, and one that will surely keep home a handful of players who belong in 64-player state field. If you're one of the lucky ones to be playing singles, you already know that the likely 1-2 seed next week at the state tournament are in this sectional. Deerfield senior Vuc Budic (20-0) heads the list, with Glenbrook North junior Mark Wu (10-1), who lost in three sets to Budic, right there to lead an dazzling field. Highland Park junior Jacob Edelchik is next in line, while the duo from Glenbrook South, Bryce McClanahan and freshman Micheal Bukalo, are next up. NSC runner-up Will Zordani and his teammate Connor Polender of Lake Forest fill this field to the brim. But Scouts coach Corky Leighton may look to tweak his final lineup and move either or perhaps even both over to doubles.

Tourney host Highland Park is finally at full strength after dealing with a variety of injuries this spring, particularly to 2015 state qualifier David Aizenberg (shoulder), so his appearance in the Giants' lineup at No. 1 doubles alongside Brandon Lew gives coach Steve Rudman that little something extra as Highland Park, Deerfield and Glenbrook North look to advance as many players as possible to challenge for a top 3-4 team finish at state.

"We toyed with several different lineups for this weekend, but in the end, it was too difficult to make any significant changes. Now we look for a little bit of luck and good fortune," said Rudman on the eve of his seeding meeting.

Contestants at doubles will need more than a little luck to unseat the obvious No. 1 seed in the state, that being Chris Casati/Niko Wasilewicz (Deerfield, 16-1) who are playing at a whole different level than everyone else right now. After that, get in line behind both Highland Park teams (Nick Zazove/Chase Garber), and Glenbrook North's Nick Marino/Austin Klapman (17-3), with losses only to Deerfield, HP and New Trier on record.

The Spartans' duo, with a solid two days of play here, could lock down a 3-4 seed from the committee to jump-start the hopes of coach Jeff Jordan heading into next weekend.

"The guys have to go out and play hard right from the start on Friday," said Jordan. "After that, you just hope and wait to see what happens here at this sectional."

The No. 1 team from Glenbrook South, Sebby DesRoberts/Rohan Gupta, will make its presence felt, as will the two teams from Hersey, who are obviously up against it but still capable of a surprise. "Dan (Belastro) and Patryk (Kot) at No. 1, and my No. 2 team, Adam Johnson/Alex Roth (16-4) have been our guys all season long, and I am very confident that each can rise up to play their best against the very best around, and that's all you can hope for in a top-heavy sectional such as this one," said Hersey coach Andy Walton.

Johnson/Roth swept away the competition last weekend to grab first place at the MSL tournament. MSL runners-up Adam Nadler/Peter Velic (Prospect) are here as well, and they, just as their league counterparts, will be looking to make a statement during the early rounds on Friday.

at Niles WestFriday: 2 p.m.

Saturday: 9 a.m.

Guest list: Maine West, Evanston, Loyola, Maine East, Maine South, New Trier, Niles North, Niles West, North Shore Country Day, Notre Dame.

Courtside chat: New Trier has a problem most every other tennis coach would like to have: Too much depth and talent. If one thing is clear, it's that the Trevians will advance their entire team into the field of 64 to help give coach Tad Eckert a giant step forward in its bid to wom a state title next weekend in Arlington Heights.

But who will the head coach name in his starting sectional lineup? Any combination will include returning state qualifiers Tom and Scott Bickel at either singles and doubles, as well as Jeff Chen, whom Eckert says is his best player at doubles. With the addition of Maine South sophomore Danilo Kovacevic and a two-time state qualifier from North Shore Country Day, Blake Oslen, there's no room at the inn at singles, making the competition for a spot in the state tournament an intense one.

The No. 1 doubles team from Maine West, Henry Nguyen/Jason Elangical, finished fourth a week ago at the Central Suburban League tournament, so the Warriors' duo hopes to be in the mix when this tourney winds down.

Nguyen, a senior, was a state qualifier at doubles two years ago along with Patrick Czaj.

at StevensonFriday: 1 p.m.

Saturday: 8 a.m.

Guest list: Barrington, Buffalo Grove, Palatine, Carmel, Lake Zurich, Libertyville, Mundelein, Stevenson, Vernon Hills, Wauconda

Courtside chat: When perhaps the best player in the state ended his season prematurely, it opened the entire field up here as coaches scrambled to figure what was the best way was to use their talent in order to have a better chance of finding a way into one of the four places available to advance. The absence of a superb player such as Stefano Tsorotiotis is a loss to the sport, but it goes give others an opportunity.

Stevenson freshman Zach Kim (18-7) arrives after having won the NSC singles title along with several other quality victories on his resume, including wins against two who will be in action at the sectional, Brian Hackman (Wauconda, 23-2) and Bert Cao of Libertyville. Hackman is part of a terrific group at singles, and will be in the hunt in the stretch run here.

"There won't be anything easy about this coming weekend, but we strengthened our schedule here at the end of the season in preparation for this sectional, and I feel that Brian has a very chance this weekend, as does my No. 2 (Oliver Gallego, 18-6) who has often been overlooked but is quite capable as well," said Wauconda coach Ryan Whitfield.

Lake Zurich coach Aaron Rogers figures things at doubles are a little more clear than at singles, where the Bears' boss sees Kim, his teammate Aswatch Viswanathan (19-8), Hackman, Cao, Dylan Er (Barrington) and David Chon (Palatine) as the top contenders. At doubles, Rogers is hoping his at No. 1 pairing of Roberto Guagnelli/Joaquin Ganoza (12-6) can make their statement of intent this weekend.

"The Stevenson and Libertyville teams lead the way, with Barrington (Cam Holzman/Kyle Shuff, MSL champs) are right there also," said Rogers. "But my guys have a three-set loss to Barrington during the regular season, and four of their six defeats have been to teams in this sectional, so we feel we can be right there if we get off to a good start on Friday."

The Patriots' No. 1 team of Matt Harvey/Brian Weisberg (21-4) lost a three-set contest to Lake Forest in the NSC final, while Sam Komis/Ben Bush (19-6) earned first-place honors at No. 2 to give the reigning sectional champs a terrific one-two doubles punch.

ESCC runners-up Steve Zemaitis/Matt Colbert (Carmel) and their conference rivals from St. Viator (Jack Neubauer/Nick Skinner), who were third behind the Corsairs' team, each hope to pick up where they left off at the ESCC tournament.

Barrington is coming off its fourth consecutive MSL championship run last weekend, and Er figures to be right in the picture at singles. He's shown mettle and maturity way beyond his freshman year during his season-long spot as the Broncos' No. 1.

"There hasn't been much of an adjustment for me (playing) as our No. 1, it's just that every time out during the weekend your playing someone else's No.1, and with the tournament schedule we play, it's always a very good player," said Er. "I feel like I've played a lot of the top players pretty well this year, so I am confident that I can compete this weekend. So I just have to out and play my game and see what happens."

- Mike Garofola