North Stars' Mittvick impresses at sectionals

Wheaton Academy's Charles West and Devin Moore are opposites in many ways and that only adds to their effectiveness as a tennis doubles team.

West, the tall, right-handed junior and Moore, the average-in-stature, left-handed freshman, ran their record to 21-3 Friday winning two matches to qualify for state at the Lake Park Sectional meet.

West and Moore, who were seeded No. 1, used a combination of strong groundstrokes and consistent serving to win their play-in match 6-2, 6-1.

"The combination has worked out great," said Wheaton Academy coach Matt Hockett. "Their two losses were to state-qualifying teams."

The No. 1 seeded singles player, Matt Boguslawski of Glenbard North, also qualified for state with a pair of quick victories.

At the end of the day Bartlett and St. Charles North led the team standings at Lake Park with 16 points, followed by Wheaton Academy with 14.

Bartlett singles players Yash Patel and Kevin Veatch and John Mittvick of St. Charles North all qualified for state, along with Matt Boguslawski of Glenbard North.

Patel, who finished his match early, had a two-and-half hour wait for his eventual opponent Austin Hall of Wheaton Academy to win his three-set match.

Patel defeated Hall 6-1, 6-1.

"I needed a little warm-up to get loose," Patel said. "My serves were decent today and I was being consistent."

Patel qualified for state as a doubles player last year, but sees himself as a natural singles player because his strength is from the baseline.

Mittvick is a freshman who made state-qualification his goal at the beginning of the year.

"My first match was a little shaky," Mittvick said. "I had to get used to the court and the wind. I was better in the second match. My forehand and my serve were working well and I was doing a lot of drop shots."

Mittvick faces Patel and Veatch takes on Boguslawski in today's semifinals.