Dominant Stevenson soars to crown at BG

Strength in numbers -- and a whole lot of talent -- give Stevenson the chance to finish high above all others in late May when the boys state tennis tournament is completed.

On a day when Mother Nature tested those weary of an already wet spring season, the Patriots waited for early morning showers to depart before making the competition fade away as well by easily winning the Buffalo Grove Invite over seven other schools.

The Patriots swept all 6 flights to garner 48 points, 15 more than Glenbrook North, sans star Eric Spector (out with a minor shoulder ailment).

St. Viator was third with 24 points. Lake Zurich tied for fourth with Buffalo Grove (18 points each), but the Bears gained the edge over the Bison in the tie-breaker. Palatine was sixth, followed by Dunlap and Bartlett.

"We are very fortunate to be deep and every position, and, having played quality opponents, thus far, despite a rainy spring, heading into next weekend with the (Pitchford) 32 coming up for us," said Stevenson coach Mark Linnenburger, who positioned himself at Palatine High School all day to watch each of his three doubles teams win in the finals by straight sets.

"It's pretty exciting being a part of such a talented team, and knowing that if we continue to improve, we have a very good chance of winning a state championship next month," said sophomore Blake Bazarnik, who fell behind 4-1 in his final with Buffalo Grove's Jonah Schwartz before roaring back to win in straight sets.

Bazarnik, a fifth-place medalist last year at the state tournament, looked out of sync and listless early. But after holding serve twice, around breaking Schwartz, Bazarnik drew even at 4-4.

Schwartz looked in trouble on serve at 5-5 and trailing 15-40. But the Bison senior quickly turned things around to go up 6-5 before Bazarnik sent it into a tiebreaker, despite falling being 0-30 himself.

"Coach (Tom) Stanhope was the difference for me in that first set," Bazarnik said. "He told to relax, stay calm and start attacking."

Bazarnik began to control the pace and kept his opponent (deep) and unable to come forward.

"Blake didn't begin the match very well, but once he got going, and especially in that second set, he just coasted to the championship," said Schwartz, who fell 6-1 in the tie-breaker and 6-1 in the second set.

Patriots senior Chris Speer, outlasted St. Viator sophomore Taylor Blaney 6-4 in the first set of the final at No. 2 singles, before cruising 6-1 in the second set to capture his championship medal.

"I was a little tight in that first set which led to a rough start, but I got back on my game in that (second) set and was finishing off points the way I know that I can," Speer said.

"He (Speer) just had too much energy and endurance in our match," said Blaney, who beat BG's Yuriy Nartov 6-2, 6-7, 6-2 to advance to the final.

St. Viator's top player, four-year star Andrew Rice, showed well at No. 1 when he defeated Glenbard North's Joo Ho-Yun 7-6 (4), 6-2 for third place.

Rice, who showed off a new and improved serve, was at his best after fighting back from a 4-1 deficit in the first set to force a tie-breaker with Yun.

"In the past, I've let my opponent control at times and I've gotten in trouble because of it," Rice said. "But today, especially in that third-place match, I controlled (the) pace and played solid most of the match."

First-year Lions coach Dan Tripamer liked what he saw from his No. 1 doubles team of Mike Zielinski and Dean Taglis, who grabbed an important victory in the third-place match over No. 2 seed Palatine (Carlos and Rafael Robles) 6-2, 6-3.

Placed together for the first time this season, Peter Cote and Josh Concon took third for the Lions at No. 2 doubles.

"I say a lot of positive things out there with the way both Carlos (the Pirates captain) and Raffy played, and we just to get back and tweak a few things like (to) help fine-tune their game for the stretch run," said Palatine coach Steve Pass, "because they are playing very well and have improved tremendously since last season."

The Robles were 3-1 at the Warren Invite, then third at the recent Rolling Meadows Invite.

Stevenson's clean sweep at all 3 doubles flights was led by the freshmen duo of David Packowitz and Ross Putterman, who put away a trio of opponents with straight-set victories.

"We really like the idea of being the No. 1 (for) a team as good as this team is this season," said Packowitz.

"We're lucky to have a team like David and Ross who have played together for 2-3 years at doubles and bring in a lot of experience at the club level with them," said Linnenburger.

Alan Pukshansky and Nick Stephan won the championship match at No. 2 doubles 6-2, 6-1, while Robert Saltiel and Ryan Buxbaum were equally successful at No. 3 with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph.

Sophomore Richard Brej, who will compete at the prestigious Gator Bowl in Jacksonville next weekend, was impressive at No. 3 singles en route to his title.

Solid work at doubles for coach Kristin Chamberlain helped lift Lake Zurich, as the Bears grabbed 11 of 18 possible doubles points.

Luke Mueller and Pierce Romei defeated Palatine in the third-place match (6-3, 6-3) at No. 3, while teammates Mark Decanio and Pat Flanagan were fourth at No. 2 doubles.