Boys tennis: St. Charles North nips Geneva for Masoncup's 200th win
St. Charles North boys tennis coach Sean Masoncup reached a milestone Tuesday at a pretty fitting location.
With the North Stars' 4-3 Upstate Eight Conference win at Geneva, Masoncup notched his 200th career victory.
Masoncup did it on the courts where he stared as a player, going 125-15 for Geneva before playing tennis in college at Western Illinois.
"It's more about the kids but it's nice to have it here," Masoncup said. "It's nice to always be home. I was lucky enough to have some success here but it's more about the kids than anything. I am just a good cheerleader. It was fun."
Masoncup, the 2014 Illinois coach of the year and 2015 regional coach of the year, started his coaching career at Geneva in 2003. He coached the Vikings until 2005, took a break, then started coaching at St. Charles North in 2009.
He's been there ever since, also coaching sophomore basketball and a three-year run as the varsity girls basketball coach.
"My former players deserve the credit," said Masoncup, whose father Hal is his assistant coach. "I've been fortunate to have some great kids and play some talented kids out there."
Dillon Randazzo, who won his No. 1 doubles match with Joe Mascha 6-2, 6-0, was glad to play a part in No. 200.
"We really wanted to get him there," Randazzo said. "With all his encouragement he treats us like his own sons. He really deserved that."
"He's always positive, he's always encouraging us to do better," said Mascha, who teamed with Randazzo to take third last Saturday at the Prairie Ridge tournament. "He says it's not about winning, it's about getting better."
Geneva (2-5, 1-2) nearly spoiled Masoncup's milestone, taking the outcome to the final match, No. 2 singles, with the score tied 3-3. Holden Gilkey lost the first set to the Vikings' Maxim Lunin 7-5 before rallying to win the final two sets 6-2, 6-2.
Gilkey overcame several double faults with a powerful forehand. Lunin hustled to keep many points alive and, like the rest of the Vikings, didn't make things easy on his opponent.
"He's (Lunin) got so much energy," Gilkey said. "It's frustrating. You think you've got one and he gets it back and you mess up the next one. I was definitely running around to my forehand. After the first set I said to swing away a little more and go for the winners.
"Extra pressure for sure (being the last match). It feels good to be the one at the end to get him his 200th win."
Lunin's effort was just one of many things Geneva coach Zach Evans liked Tuesday. The Vikings got wins at No. 1 singles by Adam Said (6-1, 6-3), and No. 3 and 4 doubles - Josh Mansfield and Jack Thompson, and Eric Anderson and Mike Paige, respectively.
"He (Lunin) doesn't give up on anything," Evans said. "He's a good kid. He never gets down.
"I was really happy with the way everybody played from top to bottom. Last year we got swept by North. Year before we got swept or it was 1-6. North is always a real tough match for us so the fact we lost 3-4 and were pretty much in every match, I was really happy."
St. Charles North (8-2, 2-1) also won third singles, a 6-1, 6-1 victory for freshman Josh Joseph, and No. 2 doubles, a 6-0, 6-2 win for Avay Gustafson and Conor Bajuk. The North Stars' only UEC loss came 4-3 to Batavia.
"Geneva played well today. They are really improving," said Masoncup, a 1997 Geneva graduate. "Zach does a great job with them. When we're not playing them I always root for them."