Double the fun in Stevenson-Warren matchup

The highly anticipated matchup between Stevenson's Blake Bazarnik and Warren's Denis Bogatov never materialized Tuesday.

Bogatov was playing in an out-of-state tournament, and Bazarnik cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Warren's Jon Donnowitz at No. 1 singles.

Whatever drama was lacking in singles was more than made up for at No. 1 doubles. Stevenson freshmen David Packowitz and Ross Putterman rallied in each set for a 7-5, 7-6 (2) victory over Warren's Konrad Siczek and Igor Fedorov.

Stevenson, fresh off its dominating victory at the Buffalo Grove Invite, defeated the Blue Devils 4-1 in a North Suburban Conference Lake Division match.

In the first set, the Patriots' top duo trailed 5-2 at one point.

"We played as if we had nothing to lose and they started to make a few mistakes," Putterman said.

The Patriots broke Stevenson in the first game of the second set on their way to a 3-1 lead.

"We came out fired up and full of momentum," Packowitz said.

From there, the Blue Devils regained their form. They went up 5-3, but the Patriots clawed back to 6-6 and dominated the tiebreak.

"They're such good returners and they were able to step in on second serves," Siczek said. "We need to learn how to close out sets better."

Stevenson coach Mark Linnenburger was impressed with the level of play on both sides.

"I've seen that Warren team for the last few years and that's the best I've seen them play," he said. "The way they were able to take their best punch says a lot about (David and Ross). They trust their shots and have a way of coming up with the big points."

In singles, Bazarnik concentrated on staying aggressive.

"I tried to stay focused and I worked a lot on attacking," said Bazarnik, who had one of his best serving matches of the season.

Speer, who did not play high school tennis last year, rolled to a 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 2 singles.

"We have a great team this year," he said. "Everyone is a good player. We just have to keep it up."

Warren's one victory came courtesy of freshmen Nikola Trukov and Eric Seiler at No. 3 doubles.

"We were able to stay aggressive throughout," Seiler said.