Williams, Clousing rebound for victory

Greg Williams and Kole Clousing of Wheaton Warrenville South chalked up a three-set victory Wednesday, but not before they made things just a little stressful for their coach.

Both Williams and Clousing are returning state qualifiers who are teamed up for the first time this year, and they remained undefeated at 4-0 as the host Tigers lost 5-2 to visiting Fremd.

After winning the first set 6-1, the WW South duo admittedly "let up a little" in the second set.

They were ahead 6-5 and lost 7-6 (8-6) before getting it all together again to take the third set 6-4 from Ryan Kreis and Owen Marsden of the Vikings (7-1).

"In the second set they were pulling off a lot of nice shots," Williams said of the Fremd twosome. "They were a lot more consistent than we thought they would be."

"We were making some easy mistakes," Clousing said. "We were missing a lot of easy volleys that we should have put away."

Coach Bob Cherry of the Tigers (6-4) thought the match was a lot closer than it had to be.

"I was pleased they could pull it out," Cherry said. "But they almost gave me a heart attack going up 6-5 in the second set and then losing it. They lost their concentration and focus, but they got it back and came up with the win, and that was good."

The two seniors attribute their success in the early season to good communication and a relaxed style on the court.

"We're both very aggressive about coming to the net," Klousing said. "And we're upbeat. We have fun."

"We're hoping to go to state," Williams said. "We have different strengths and weaknesses and it's working out just fine."

The other Tigers point was scored by third-doubles Ben Tietze and Brooks Thacker, who have made a habit of three-set matches. They won Wednesday 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

"We were both singles players on frosh-soph, so there's a big change playing doubles," Thatcher said. "But today we kept a positive attitude and worked well together in the third set."

First-singles Jimmy Li lost a tough match 6-4, 7-6 to fellow state-qualifier Brian Piotrowski of Fremd.

"Brian was as consistent as can be today," said Fremd coach Ken Goettsche. "They played last year and Jimmy smoked him. Brian was hitting the lines when he needed to and that took Jimmy out of his game a little."

According to Goettsche, he planned to have Piotrowski to play doubles at sectional, but the win against WW South was the deciding factor in giving his player at shot at singles.

"This was a big win for Brian," Goettsche said. "It will help him in the seedings."

He also thought it was an impressive team victory for the Vikings.

"Our guys are consistent, not flashy," Goettsche said. "We find our opposition just wears themselves out rather than our guys beating them."