Redhawks finish with convincing win

With conference and sectional tournaments nearly upon us, Naperville Central is in pretty good shape with outstanding depth and interchangeable parts.

The Redhawks' doubles strength was apparent in Tuesday's final DuPage Valley Conference regular-season boys tennis match, a 6-1 win against visiting Wheaton Warrenville South.

First-singles Jimmy Li accounted for the Tigers' only point with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over the Redhawks' Tyler Hoffman. In their two meetings last season, Hoffman came away with the win.

Dave Naccache and Chad Loughmiller, the second-doubles team for the Redhawks (10-1, 6-1), continued their consistent play with a 6-2, 6-1 win over the Tigers (9-6, 5-2)

"I know every time they step out on the court they're going to give everything they have," said coach Dan Brown of his two senior co-captains. "They have a great tactical awareness about how to play doubles."

"We're always aware that our match is just as important as the others and that we can take the point wherever we play," Naccache said. "Chad is always in the right place and he knows what to do. His returns are outstanding."

"Today, we started slowly with our serves," Loughmiller said. "But once we started getting our serves back, we feel we're as good as anyone at the net."

First-doubles Neal Walters and Kevin Bauman won 6-1, 6-1, and in the most exciting match of they day, Robbie Jensen defeated the Tigers' Greg Williams 6-7, 7-6, 7-5 at third singles.

For Jensen the win was special because Brown moved him up to third singles based on a great match last week against Wheaton North.

"Robbie is a fierce competitor," Brown said. "He really wanted to win one for the team. He just did a great job of dictating play. He set up points and picked the right ball to be aggressive on. That was one of the best matches I've ever seen."

Tuesday's win probably gives Li the second seed in this weekend's DVC tournament behind Matt Boguslawski of Glenbard North, with Hoffman filling the third seed.

"I've kind of adjusted to Tyler's game a little," Li said. "My biggest strength is playing from the baseline where I either counterattack or play defense against his power. His serve is the biggest thing I have trouble with. And today he was missing a lot of his first serves."

Li, a sophomore, has suffered three tough losses in the past two weeks, but he believes he has learned from the defeats.

"The losses were all about me not being motivated enough, a problem I had all last year," Li said. "Those three matches have put me back on track and will push me for the rest of the season."

Wheaton Warrenville South coach Bob Cherry was pleased with Li's performance.

"This was Jimmy's most complete match of the year," Cherry said. "He was very focused. He didn't let Tyler's power overwhelm him and his touch at the net and returning serve were both outstanding.

Li is 16-3 on the year.