Boys tennis: Scouting the Fox Valley
By John Lemon
jlemon@dailyherald.com
Bartlett
Coach: Colleen Brandner (seventh year)
Conference: Upstate Eight Valley
Top returning players: Senior Peter Devereux; Juniors Jacob Brendel, Jose Dizon; Sophomore Kaushik Selvakumar
Outlook: After struggling to fill all its lineup spots a few years ago, Brandner is thrilled to have 53 out for the tennis team including 15 on varsity. "It's one of my biggest accomplishments in coaching tennis is bringing back a program that was struggling to fill all of the courts," Brandner said. The coach also expects a better season for the varsity. "Last year was a rebuilding year as many of our team had graduated the previous year," Bradner said. "This year we have several amazing players returning." Brendel, who has played varsity since he was a freshman, will play No. 1 singles. "He has spent a lot of time training during the off-season and should be a formidable opponent for anyone in our conference," Brandner said. Devereux and Dizon will play No. 1 doubles and also have been on the varsity since they were freshmen. Bradner praised Selvakumar for the enthusiasm he brings. "His can-do spirit is contagious," Brandner said. "This year's players' talent reminds me of when, then seniors Justin Howes, Brandon Pepa and Allen Johanson played for me in 2016."
Batavia
Coach: Brad Nelson (sixth year, 83-21-4)
Conference: Upstate Eight River
2017 record: 15-2-2
Top returning players: Seniors Will McClure, Keegan Thompson; Juniors Chase Bremner, Griffin Unterberg; Sophomores Brogan Pierce
Top newcomers: Juniors Kipp Knecht, Isaac Schifferer, Drew Lillig; Sophomore Ben Grizaffi; Freshman Cullen Bremner
Outlook: The Bulldogs have as much talent returning as anyone, but they suffered a tragedy this winter when teammate Will Freiburger passed away from a brain aneurysm. Freiburger played second doubles last year. "This has been a tough winter for our guys as we have been mourning the loss of Will," Nelson said. The Bulldogs are coming off a banner season that saw them win the UEC River title and also the Maine South invite, Warren quad and Glenbard South quad. Pierce had a 25-10 record and took second in conference as a freshman playing first singles. "He has worked very hard in the off-season to elevate his game," Nelson said. Bremner went 28-7 last year, 24-0 at second singles, and won the UEC title at No. 2. "Chase is a No. 1 caliber singles player," Nelson said. His younger brother Cullen will play third singles. McClure is a three-year varsity player who went 24-10 last year. Thompson (23-6) and Unterberg (22-8) placed second in conference at third doubles last year. Justin Chu, a fourth doubles player last year, is out for the season due to a shoulder injury. "We have a deep doubles lineup with little difference between our No. 1 and our No. 4," Nelson said. "Our strength will be at singles where Pierce has elevated his game enough to be considered one of the best in the state."
Cary-Grove
Coach: Amanda Schuetzle (ninth year)
Conference: Fox Valley
2017 record: 19-5, 8-0
Top returning players: Seniors Mike Ptaszek, Matt Poole, Colin Enstrom, Teddy Price; Joe Stanley; Junior Thomas Conneen; Sophomore Daniel Sowa
Top newcomers: Sophomores Isaac Rands, Teddy Conneen
Outlook: After taking second in points and second at the conference tournament last year, the Trojans head into the season with a mix of returnees and new players looking to step into bigger roles. Ptaszek will play No. 1 singles after going 18-9 with a third-place finish at the FVC tourney last year. He's looking to play college tennis and had wins over Kyle Boudreau from Antioch, Hayden Friese from Libertyville and Cecil Mella from Warren. Poole played first doubles last year, Conneen third singles, and Enstrom and Price third doubles. Sowa and Stanley were the fourth doubles pairing last year. "We lost some key players from last year's lineup and guys will really need to step up to fill those spots," Schuetzle said. "Mike Ptaszek is back at first singles and looking to surpass his performance from last year." Schuetzle isn't sure how the rest of the lineup will shake out. "As the season starts, there are many options to our lineup right now, and our players' level of commitment to work during the off-season may create some different playing positions than originally planned coming in," Schuetzle said. "This team can be strong contenders in the FVC, but we have some work to do to compete with the level of play we had as a team last year."
Crystal Lake South
Coach: Don Nead (50th year, 10 at Crystal Lake Community and 40 at Crystal Lake South)
Conference: Fox Valley
2017 record: 8-8, 3-5
Top returning players: Seniors John Hanigan, Jason Simboli, Will Sudbrook; Juniors Dominik Bogacz, Alex Freeman, Dan Minogue, Trevor O'Connor, Sam Palmer
Top newcomers: Seniors John Elwart, Haari Sureshkumar, Bayden Trocki; Juniors: Nathan Koh, Alex Krawczyk; Freshmen Will Howard, Carson O'Connor, Ethan Wilkening
Outlook: The Gators are one of the most experienced teams with eight players back with varsity experience. "We are looking to improve on last year's record," Nead said.
Dundee-Crown
Coach: Andrew Tollberg (first year)
Conference: Fox Valley
2017 record: 1-11, 0-8
Top returning players: Seniors Matthew Krispin, Jack Miller, Chase Nelson, Eric Shields; Junior Sneh Shah
Top newcomers: Sophomore Jonah Koehlert
Outlook: Tollberg is optimistic about his first year as coach with a roster full of senior returnees. "We are hoping to improve on the things we have learned so far this season," Tollberg said. "We only lost one consistent starter (Daniel Turchan) and hope to build from our match experience from last year. We are pushing to be at least in the middle of the pack of the conference."
Geneva
Coach: Zach Evans (fifth year)
Conference: Upstate Eight River
2017 record: 5-7
Top returning players: Seniors Diego Cardenas, Will Marietti, Dillon Fox; Juniors Andrew Borse, Eric Anderson
Top newcomers: Freshman Sam Mickus
Outlook: In his 11th year overall, Evans has some experience to work with in both his doubles lineup - Cardenas, Borse and Anderson - and singles, Marietti and Fox. "Borse and Anderson will be playing doubles again this year, they made great strides last year and played extremely well at sectionals in their first year on varsity," Evans said. "Cardenas after switching to doubles at the end of the season last year showed a lot of promise and will continue to play doubles this year with Mickus." Evans also is excited about what his singles players can do. "Marietti and Fox have put in a lot of work in the off-season and look ready to play," Evans said. "Both have great strokes and have improved their serves." It promises to be a good spring for the Vikings who will try to challenge Batavia and St. Charles North in conference play. "I am very excited about the lineup we have this year," Evans said. "We are a deep team with the bottom half of our lineup being very strong. The attitude and aggressiveness all of the varsity members are showing thus far are going to make us competitive at every spot and give us a chance to win every match."
Hampshire
Coach: Art Steuber (second year)
Conference: 9-10, 2-6
2017 record: Fox Valley
Top returning players: Senior Alex Sayavongs; Juniors Blake Snider, Daniel Hawkey
Top newcomers: Juniors John McCann, Josh Milan, Ben Steuber David Hougland; Freshman Abraham Hougland
Outlook: Steuber likes what he's got in his second year as Whip-Purs coach. "Hampshire tennis continues to get deeper and stronger," Steuber said. "We are working on building an annually competitive program and the group of boys we have this season will definitely contribute to this goal. We look to be competitive in conference and look to push farther into the postseason than in years past." Steuber said McCann, Milan and Steuber will add depth to the doubles lineup. David Hougland returns to Hampshire tennis this season after a one-year hiatus. His younger brother, Abraham, also joins the team. "These two are year-round players who will play near the top of our lineup," Steuber said.
Huntley
Coach: Barry Wells (13th year)
Conference: Fox Valley
2017 record: Third in FVC
Top returning players: Seniors Jack Soderwall, Vince Eliscu, Abhilash Parath, Ben Modrich; Juniors Julian Collins, Justin Schee, Ben Saiz; Sophomores Jack Adams, Drake Southwell
Top newcomers: Senior Brady Michel; Freshmen Saarav Desai, Thomas Patel, Andrew Burkey, Daniru Dharmaratne
Outlook: Not only does Huntley have nine returning starters, the freshman Desai is a highly ranked USTA player. "He should be one of the top singles players in the area," said Wells, who had one doubles team qualify for state last year. "We have the most skilled freshman class I've ever coached who will be competing for starting positions. We have good top-end talent and depth which should allow us to compete for our first conference championship." As for the conference race, Wells said Cary-Grove also has good depth, Prairie Ridge has several strong players at the top of its lineup, and Jacobs has the best player in Kerwin Chong.
Jacobs
Coach: Jon Betts (13th year)
Conference: Fox Valley
2017 record: 25-10, 7-1
Top returning players: Seniors Kerwin Chong, Juniors Kyle Burton, Kevin Burton
Top newcomers: Senior Luke Esswein; Juniors Alex Luy, Chandler Marchi; Sophomores Ethan Schmidt, Chris Kastritis, Brandon Dinh, Ben Cannon; Freshmen John Kaiser, David Bautsch
Outlook: The Eagles are coming off a big year that saw them win the Fox Valley regular season and tournament championships, and also take the title at the Huntley sectional. They bring back Chong, who went 36-12 last year, won the conference championship and qualified for state. He has signed with Roosevelt University, where he will join his brother, Kendrick. Kyle Burton went 32-16 last year and will play second singles, and Kevin Burton was 24-13 last year and will play third singles. "Having graduated all eight of our starting varsity doubles players, we have a new look and a lot of work ahead of us," Betts said. "Our goals are based on character, growth, and grit, but we have also challenged our young team to put Jacobs in contention for a third consecutive conference title."
Larkin
Coach: Kevin Schillerstrom (sixth year)
Conference: Upstate Eight River
2017 record: 1-17
Top returning players: Seniors Mavrick Lam, Leonardo Jimenez; Junior Andrew Dominguez
Top newcomers: Freshman Elmer Ave
Outlook: Schillerstrom said Dominguez likely will play first singles again. "He has very flat strokes with high consistency," Schillerstrom said. Lam also will play singles. "He has massive topspin and can hit a passing shot with the best of them," Schillerstrom said. Jimenez will return to No. 1 doubles. "He's really progressed his game from previous years," Schillerstrom said. "Tremendous leader on the team." Schillerstrom is excited to see what Ave brings. "Elmer grew up playing tennis and is a fresh ninth grade high school athlete," Schillerstrom said. "He has the potential to be a real threat to our competition. Look for him in singles." Overall, Schillerstrom likes the group and just wishes he had a few more out for the team. The Royals have seven on varsity and eight on junior varsity. "Our team has great love for the game and real grit to improve their games," Schillerstrom said. "With this in mind we are small but mighty this year. Look for an improvement on both levels. What this means is that although we have new athletes that haven't played tennis before they are more athletic and coordinated. Varsity will gain at least one new win."
St. Charles East
Coach: Rob Livermore (ninth year)
Conference: Upstate Eight River
2017 record: 12-4
Top returning players: Juniors Zack Moss, Colin Johnson, Mason Beydoun
Top newcomers: Sophomore Jeff Sharko; Freshman Jason Bijonowski
Outlook: The Saints don't have a lot of experience but that doesn't mean they don't expect another strong season. "We have a young team, full of energy and looking forward to competing at the varsity level," Livermore said.
St. Charles North
Coach: Sean Masoncup
Conference: Upstate Eight River
2017 record: 15-3
Top returning players: Ajay Gustafson and Conor Bajuk
Top newcomers: Juniors David Schmidt, Brett Walden, Garrett Collins, Jim Cooke; Freshman Reed Goldsworthy
Outlook: After finishing second in sectionals and top 25 at state, the North Stars are poised for another big year behind the returning honorable mention all-state doubles team of Ajay Gustafson and Conor Bajuk. They won three rounds at state last year. "We are a young team with only starting two seniors with the potential of starting one freshman, four sophomores and four juniors," Masoncup said. "Reed Goldsworthy will be a huge addition to this year's squad as he will be a force both in singles and doubles." Masoncup is excited about his team's potential. "We have a great mix of talented tennis players and extremely hard working young men," Masoncup said. "We could be the deepest we have ever been in years. Our third and fourth doubles teams will be as strong as our top ones. Batavia is the favorite but we are hoping to push them for the conference title."
South Elgin
Coach: Bret Anderson (second year)
Conference: Upstate Eight Valley
2017 record: 9-4
Top returning players: Seniors Matt Lopez; Junior Alan Tran
Top newcomers: Seniors Jeremy AmRhein, Tyler Williams
Outlook: The Storm finished second in the Upstate Eight Valley and fourth at the Huntley sectional last year. Both of their doubles teams qualified for state. Only Lopez and Tran return. Lopez played mostly at third doubles last year with an 11-0 record. Tran went 7-4 at third singles, and this year Anderson is putting the two together at No. 1 doubles. AmRhein and Williams played first doubles for the JV team last year. "We're optimistic about 2018," Anderson said. "We had significant turnover from last season, but this team is eager to prove they're up to the challenge. Led by Lopez and Tran, our strength will be our doubles depth."
West Aurora
Coach: Bill Stanley (18th year)
Conference: Upstate Eight Valley
2017 record: 5-12
Top returning players: Seniors Caden LaFond, Jack Farrell, Michael Butler, Ulysses Rios, Luke Reimers
Top newcomers: Junior Rameel Arshad; Sophomore Isomiddin Abdusalomov; Freshman Raymond Wu
Outlook: The Blackhawks graduated William Isiminger, who plays now at Central College, from last year's team. They took fourth out of 16 teams at the Triad/Troy tournament to highlight their season. Stanley said Glenbard East and South Elgin will be teams to watch in conference this spring. "We want to compete and do our best in everything we do both inside and outside of the tennis court," Stanley said. "Work hard, practice hard, stay positive, motivated, focused, have good character and an extra effort in the classroom is always a priority."