St. Charles North displays its depth against Geneva
St. Charles North dominated its Wednesday afternoon home dual against Geneva, winning six of the seven matches.
The Vikings' lone win came on a two-set sweep by Filip Ivkovick over Christian Hoskey, 6-0, 6-1, in the No. 1 singles match. It was the third win in three tries this season for the transfer student from Croatia.
"I served really well today, and that had a huge impact," Ivkovick said. "Back home, I always play on clay courts, but I like this better. I like the faster game."
Every school the Vikings travel to play, and each opponent is a mystery to Ivkovick. Though that can certainly work in his favor, since they don't know what to expect from him, either.
"I don't know the other guys, I only know what I read about them in the newspaper," Ivkovick said. "I don't underestimate anyone, I respect everyone I play."
In a few short months his time in the Tri-Cities will end, but not before he creates a few memories on the tennis courts.
"(Ivkovick) has a big serve and a big forehand, and he a very good player," St. Charles North coach Sean Masoncup said.
As impressed as Masoncup was Ivkovick, he had even more to be positive about with his own team.
"We were able to take advantage of our depth," Masoncup said. "This was definitely a good win for us."
The North Stars (4-1) didn't need much court time to sweep the top doubles matches as David Johnson and John Mittvick shutout Ryan Barnard and Peter Legrand, 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1, while Parker Featherston and Danny Oakes did the same to Kevin Potts and Tyler Livingston at No. 2.
Two days ago, Nick Mehta lost a marathon match at St. Charles East. On Wednesday, he bounced back nicely and beat Collin Rapp, 6-2, 6-1 at second singles.
"I wasn't playing my best the whole time, but I just tried to keep the ball in play," Mehta said.
Mehta closed out the first set in strong fashion, then kept the momentum on his half of the court and rolled right through the second.
"I wanted to make sure I didn't let up at the start of the second set, because I do that sometimes," Mehta said.
North Stars freshman Dominick Amalraj survived a tight first set against West Adelman, 7-6 (6), before taking over in the second and cruising to a 6-0 win.
Back over on the doubles side, Pat Corrigan and John Terwilliger made the third doubles match a short one, beating Reed Chlasta and Cooper Sartell, 6-0, 6-1.
The No. 4 doubles proved to be the day's lone three-setter, as Connor Davis and James Reed rallied after a disappointing second set to win the match 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.
"They played hard, especially in that third set," Masoncup said. "They were able to put the balls away and that's what sealed it for them."
Though it proved to be a tough day for the Vikings (3-5), coach Peter Burkhardt has a sense of what his team needs to work on to get to next level.
"(St. Charles North) is deep, especially in doubles and that's an area where we need to improve," Burkhardt said. "Quality doubles teams have good fundamentals and they play smart. Some of that is teamwork, some of it is chemistry."