Stevenson rolls to tennis title at North Suburban Conference

Sam Rong wanted to correct a wrong.

"I thought it ended up fantastically," he said.

Right.

So despite Rong and his Vernon Hills doubles partner Riaz Hoveydai losing to Stevenson's dynamic duo of Ross Putterman and David Packowitz 6-0, 6-2 in the No. 1 final of the North Suburban Conference tournament at Lakes on Saturday, all was well.

After all, Vernon Hills coach Doug Gerber thinks Rong-Hoveydai might have made school history by becoming the first Cougars to reach a conference championship match.

"They're playing exceedingly well today," Gerber said after his first doubles team advanced to the final. "Good first serves."

It was a good finals match against Stevenson, Rong thought, even though Putterman-Packowitz made quick work of the Vernon Hills duo.

"They're just an amazing doubles team," Hoveydai said of the Patriots' powerful pair.

"I aced them," Rong said with a wide smile of his 1 ace in the final.

Stevenson aced the field, as expected. The Patriots won the tournament with 37 points, 12 more than runner-up Lake Forest, which edged Lake Zurich (24) by a point for second place. Warren (16.5), which competed again without defending state champ Denis Bogatov, and Mundelein (13.5) were fourth and fifth, with Libertyville (12) sixth.

Besides Putterman-Packowitz, Stevenson got championships from Blake Bazarnik (No. 1 singles), Etham Frenkel (No. 2 singles) and Ryan Buxbaum-Brian Kim (No. 3 doubles). The Patriots' No. 2 doubles team of Nick Stephan-Alec Tunner dropped its semifinal match to Warren's Eric Teeman-Paul Schlais 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.

Teeman-Schlais fell to Lake Forest's top-seeded Conor Kester-Grant Gordon 6-3, 6-1 in the finals.

Frenkel swatted Lake Forest's Sam Winkler 6-1, 6-2 in the finals, while Buxbaum-Kim claimed a title with a 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over Lake Forest's Scott Andersen-Peter Kehr.

"We played very well up and down the lineup," Stevenson coach Mark Linnenburger said. "Second doubles could have played better, but hats off to Warren. They were the better team in that match, for sure."

"Everyone did really well," Bazarnik said. "It's a team effort."

Bazarnik's day was almost uneventful, as the top seed played only two matches, missing not only a potential showdown with Bogatov but also a semifinal match with Lake Forest's Peter Wolniak, who defaulted due to a nagging shoulder after his quarterfinal win. Bazarnik was sharp in knocking off Lake Zurich freshman lefty and No. 2 seed Michael Redlicki 6-2, 6-1 in the final.

Bazarnik said he text-messaged Bogatov earlier in the week and learned the Michigan State recruit would not be competing at conference due to his achy back.

"I really wanted to play him because we always have good matches," Bazarnik said. "I just want him to get healthy."

While Warren coach Greg Cohen said he has "no idea" if Bogatov will be ready to play in the sectional next weekend, two guys who should be pumped for the postseason are Rong and Hoveydai, who might have been the best story Saturday.

Unseeded, they outlasted No. 3 seed Andy Walker-Carter Wheatley of Lake Forest 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. The two Cougars then beat the second seed, Lake Zurich's Erik Wolf-Tyler Miller, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 (8-6).

"Lake Zurich had us going in the first set," Rong said. "It was pretty annoying. They lobbed us a lot. But we weren't nervous at all. We just took it to them with whatever we had. Stevenson, same thing. I think we even got their guys a little frustrated."

Rong and Hoveydai relished their position all day.

"We were the underdog this whole time," Hoveydai said. "No one expected anything out of us, so we went into every match playing like we got nothing to lose, and that definitely paid off for us."

Rong and Hoveydai have been playing doubles together since Rong was a freshman two years ago and the senior Hoveydai was a sophomore. Their chemistry was never more apparent Saturday.

"He's given me the best season of my high school career," Rong said.

Summed up Hoveydai: "We're glad that we were able to make some kind of a footmark for Vernon Hills tennis by getting this far."