Patriots find second wind

Saturday was not a day for tennis. Kite-flying or windsurfing, sure, but not tennis.

Still, the conditions did not deter Stevenson. The Patriots, who many figure can win the state title one month from today, showed why Saturday afternoon as coach Mark Linnenburger's team edged New Trier to capture the team championship of the Pitchford 32 at Hersey.

Behind an individual title from Chris Speer at No. 2 singles and superb play from the freshman pair of David Packowitz and Ross Putterman in the third-place match at No. 2 doubles, the Patriots scored 56 points overall to grab the big trophy over New Trier (53).

Defending state champion Hinsdale Central tied for third with Oak Park-River Forest at 48 points. Highland Park (44), Glenbrook North (39), Warren and Latin (30) and Barrington (26) claimed the next spots in the team race.

"The great thing that we can take from this weekend, in addition to winning a team title, is that everyone contributed, and in the case of everyone but Chris, came back to get important points," said Linnenburger, who watched Packowitz-Putterman survive a long 3-setter with Highland Park's Ben Woldenberg-Marcus Ampon. "And yet all of the guys can play even better than they did over the past two days."

"It's all about helping out the team," said Speer, who was nearly perfect for the second straight weekend after defeating Dan Vollman (OPRF) 6-3, 6-3 to earn the top prize at No. 2 to help validate the No. 1 seed that was bestowed upon him. "Blake (Bazarnik) is a great player for us at No. 1, and for me, I just want to help this team win every championship that we have an opportunity to win for the rest of the year."

Speer (12-1) recorded five straight-set victories en route to his successful run. He battled a cross-wind on the far courts at Hersey to upend a game Vollman, who in his previous match with Krishna Ravella (Hinsdale Central) went 3 sets, including a 10-8 tie-breaker victory in the third set.

"You have to credit Dan for playing so hard after that 3-setter in his semi," said Speer. "But despite the incredible winds, I tried hard to keep moving all throughout and never allow him to believe he had a chance to beat me. My confidence grew with each match this weekend."

Bazarnik, who entered the tournament as a 3-4 seed, fell in his semifinal with OPRF's Michael Jacobs 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (2) and failed to capitalize on 3 match points.

Bazarnik would, however, come back to win his next 2 matches, including a 6-1, 6-3 triumph over Buffalo Grove senior Jonah Schwartz for fifth place.

Packowitz and Putterman (13-1) suffered their first loss of the season in the semis to eventual doubles champion Brantner Jones-Robert Stineman of New Trier 6-4, 6-3. That sent the Trevians into the championship match with Rockford Guilford and left the Pats' duo one step back.

"If there was one team we didn't mind losing our first match of the season, it was New Trier, said Packowitz. "But there were chances in that first set where we just didn't close points out when the opportunity was there for us."

"Those (two) really impressed me today," said Linnenburger of his No. 1 team. "They fought off (Highland Park) who looked to be in position to put us away, but they came back and played like upperclassmen, especially to get even in that second set with a 10-7 tie-breaker win."

No. 1 seed Denis Bogatov of Warren was denied a chance to win his first title here when Glenbrook North's Eric Spector avenged an early season straight set loss with an impressive 6-3, 7-5 victory in the final.

Both players, easily capable of meeting in the state final next month, made a mockery of the conditions at times with brilliant 10-, 12-, and 14-ball rallies which defied logic considering that strong winds played havoc throughout the nearly 2-hour match and ripped tennis screens from the fence midway through the first set.

"I thought (Eric) did a remarkable job of managing the wind, and being able to hit big shots when he needed them against Denis," said Warren assistant Jeff Bernales.

"I came out from the start very intense, and continued to stay that way and probably finished off some difficult rallies with points in my favor," said the Northwestern-bound Spector.

Bogatov, who needed 90 minutes to dispatch Jacobs (6-2, 6-3) in his semifinal, was up only twice in the first set, the last coming when he held in a long Game 5 that featured memorable rallies and shots.

Spector held serve to open the second set to begin a trend which saw each player stay on serve until the Glenbard North senior broke Bogatov to win the match.

"It took me a long time (in) that first set to adjust to the wind, and it wasn't until the las four or five games of the second set did I feel comfortable and back on my game," said Bogatov, now 16-2.

Sophomore Matt Goralka (Payton) outlasted Jacobs for third place straight sets.

Area teams mostly struggled during the two days of play, but the No. 2 doubles team of Greg Miligan and David Martin of Barrington provided the best highlight of the weekend for the Broncos and head coach John Roncone.

The senior duo advanced into the third-place match before falling in 3 sets to the top-seeded team from New Trier (Ong-Porter).

"Everything those two accomplished was all a positive this weekend," said a proud Roncone. "We had our chances in (our) semifinal with Hinsdale Central, and need to close those matches out, but I think the guys know, now, that they can compete with the best from here on out."

After rallying from a 4-1 deficit in their second set with Hinsdale, the Broncos' drew closer at 4-3 before Josh Sink took over to help the Red Devils go up 5-3.

At 5-4, the Red Devils broke Martin to win the match.

"Greg and I played together during our freshmen and sophomore year, so we cannot use the excuse that we didn't have enough matches (together) this season," said Martin.