Fremd nets dramatic MSL West championship
Demonstrating quite the flair for the dramatic, Fremd captured its second consecutive Mid-Suburban League West Division title at the last moment.
A three-set victory from Ryo Miyawaki at No. 2 singles over Varun Prarekh pushed the Vikings past visiting Barrington in the final match of the Thursday afternoon dual meet in Palatine - giving the Vikings a 4-3 victory on the final day of the regular season.
"This turned out way too close for me to watch," said Vikings coach Ken Goettsch, who saw Fremd's 3-2 lead evaporate after the Broncos' George Coll won at No. 1 singles (6-0, 3-6, 6-2) over Maciej Niemczyk - making the Miyawaki-Prarekh match the most important of the day.
"Barrington is always deep at doubles, and today it showed when John's (coach Roncone) guys at Nos. 3 and 4 won in straight sets, but fortunately our guys at Nos. 1 and 2 offset those losses. Then it all came down to Ryo's match with Varun."
Last season, the West Division crown was also decided in the final match, when Goettsch's No. 2 doubles team came through to give the Vikings a 4-3 triumph on the road.
"The bottom line is that until someone beats (Fremd), they are considered the favorite to repeat next week at the MSL tournament," Roncone said. "Ken does a nice job with his guys, and today, they were the better team. For us, we're just looking forward to another shot at them at the tournament."
Broncos doubles duos - Zach Kariniak-Nikhil Holay (No. 3) and Steven Farag-Brett Furmanski (No. 4) - were both straight-sets winners over their respective opponents. The Vikings' top two teams outlasted their Broncos rivals in straight sets.
"I know that I struggled today, and luckily, Kenta (Shimizu) picked me up with some big shots, especially in our second set," said senior Ryan Kreis, after he and Shimizu defeated Jim Deroche and Joe Gasior 6-1, 7-5 at No. 1 doubles.
The Vikings pair, which last week took third at the prestigious Pitchford 32, found themselves in trouble in the second set when the Broncos pulled ahead 5-4.
But the Vikings broke an ailing Jim Deroche to go ahead 6-5, before a blistering backhand down the line from Shimizu finished off the Broncos.
"Jimmy played with a lot of heart out there today, and you could tell he was favoring (that) right shoulder of his, but there was no way he was giving in (during) that match," Roncone said.
Matt Burkhardt and James Lee overcame a less-than-sparkling first set against Connor Brownell and Ben Nuckles to win (7-6 (5), 6-2) at No. 2 doubles, while teammate Arjun Puranik was impressive in his 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 3 singles.
Coll appeared to be on his way to easy time against Niemczyk after his 6-0 first-set win, but the wheels came off in a second-set loss (6-3) - forcing the Broncos' top player to regroup and eventually earn a 6-2 third-set triumph.
"He (Niemczyk) kept everything in play in that second set, and I couldn't, but in a rivalry like this one, when there's an opportunity (there) waiting, you have to take (advantage) of it," Coll said.
"George gave a real good effort for us out there today," Roncone said.
In the deciding match, Miyawaki appeared to have all the answers after cruising to a 6-1 first-set victory, but the Barrington freshmen didn't go away. He fought back to capture the second set 6-4, looking fresher than his opponent - who appeared to be suffering from leg cramps towards the end of the set.
But Miyawaki rebounded, building a 3-0 lead before finishing things up with a 6-1 decision.
"I knew that my match would decided who would win today, so I just tried to play as smart and I could in that third set," said Miyawaki.
"We're not done yet," Goettsche remind his Vikings after the match. "All we've done is win the division. Next week we want to win the conference tournament and the MSL title outright."
Rolling Meadows 4, Hersey 3: Behind victories at second singles and second through fourth doubles, Rolling Meadows defeated host Hersey 4-3 to clinch the MSL East Division crown.
The Mustangs' Attilio Bonasera earned a three-set win at No. 2 singles by scores of 6-1, 6-7, 6-1.
Also for the Mustangs, who finished 5-0 in their division dual meets, Tom Chung and Kevin Krause teamed up at No. 2 doubles for a 7-5, 6-3 victory. At No. 3, Alex Prodanovic-Sean Rowader rallied to prevail 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. At fourth doubles, Cal Gruhlke-Mike Toth posted a 6-3, 6-2 win.