There's no stopping Hinsdale C. at Hersey
Even without 2008 state medalist Augie Bloom, defending state champion Hinsdale Central squashed a trio of Mid-Suburban League boys tennis team Saturday afternoon to earn the team title at the annual Hersey Invite.
The Red Devils returned to the site of their dramatic run toward a second straight state title to defeat the host Huskies 6-1 before topping Buffalo Grove 7-0, then Prospect 6-1 to capture the big prize.
"It's very exciting to have everyone back from our championship team, and to have three talented freshmen with us as well, but even as the favorite to win it all, when the season begins, we still have to go out and play as hard as we can each week leading up to the postseason," said Hinsdale Central junior Krishna Ravella, who took over for Bloom at No. 1 singles while the third-place state medalist is away at the acclaimed Easter Bowl in California.
Ravella and fellow state qualifiers Dan Ballantine and Ian Tesmond, along with doubles mates Josh Sink and Paul Cooper, were a perfect 3-0 on the day, although the Hersey No. 2 team of Jimmy Druffel and Dan Milewski won 4 games off Sink-Cooper in their second set with the duo that went 4-2 at the state tournament last May.
"I am really proud of my guys today," said first-year Hersey coach Brenna Ohlson. "This is a terrific group (to) coach because they play hard and leave everything out on the court when all is said and done."
The Huskies' boast a trio of returning players at singles in juniors Kevn Amarantos, Eric Klawitter and Hialario Martinez, who could all make some noise in the MSL this season. Klawitter defeated Hinsdale Central's No. 2, Rafe Mosetick in 2 sets to give his club its lone victory in its dual, and was 3-0 overall.
Tournament runner-up and reigning MSL East champ Prospect made its run into the final after disposing of Cary-Grove 5-2, then conference rival Fremd 4-3 by virtue of victories at Nos. 1 and 4 doubles and Nos. 2 and 3 singles.
"The great thing about our program during the past couple of years is that we have so much depth, which allows us to tinker with our lineup during most weekend tournaments to help give us the best possible lineup and (chances) in the postseason," said Prospect coach Rick Huffman.
An example of this is doubles state qualifier Jon Kiefer. He played first doubles with Sam Pope in their first pair of duals before moving over to No. 1 singles against Hinsdale.
That move caused a chain reaction at the three singles and four doubles spots, and Pope defeated Mosetick in the final.
Buffalo Grove and Fremd faced each other for the third-place trophy, and this one was never close as the Vikings shut out Kevin Schrammel's club 7-0.
"We had played so well leading into that match, and just fell flat on our faces in that one," said Schrammel, who nonetheless likes what he sees of his No. 1 doubles team of George Foutris and Alec Martino.
After losing out to the weather all spring, Fremd finally got to play for real and went 2-1 on the day, starting Saturday morning with a 6-1 defeat of Freeport.
"There are a lot of new faces, and all of our returning players are playing at different places in our lineup, so it will take some time for us to really get going," said 2007 state qualifier and No. 1 singles player Kenta Shimizu, who went 3-0.
Cary-Grove sophomore Chris Federighi defeated Martin Bartkus (Prospect) to start his day and went on to win his next two to help his club to a fifth-place finish.
The 2008 state doubles qualifier (along with Jake Szybowicz) figures the FVC trio of returning state qualifiers Craig Greenwald and Matt Miller (Prairie Ridge) and Tommy Nelson (Crystal Lake Central) will be his toughest oppenents in the conference race this season, but he feels he's ready for the challenge.
"I changed from a one-handed back-hand to two and I've been feeling really good about it after switching over six months ago," said Federighi, who with Szybowicz went 1-2 at the state tourney.