WW South's Li overcomes hurting Dawson

Kyle Dawson's game is almost back to where it should be as he continues his rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery last spring.

Dawson, a St. Francis senior who missed his entire junior season, is still not at full strength when he has to lift his arm to serve, and his elbow starts to tighten when he has to play multiple matches in one day.

After qualifying for the state tournament by winning his quarterfinals match, Dawson ran into trouble in the semifinals of the Naperville North sectional on Saturday

Although he defeated Naperville North's No. 1 seed Gordon Zhang 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals, because of the soreness Dawson was forced to go partially to a left-handed game, which he has developed in his return to high school tennis this spring.

"The first match was good and I was able to take care of business," Dawson said. "But in the middle of the second set against Gordon, my arm gave a little on the serve and I decided to experiment with different shots. Luckily, I came out on top."

"I was trying to get to his backhand, but I couldn't get the job done because he was attacking my backhand," Zhang said. "He's really quick and athletic and hard to get through. He played some left-handed and found his form really quickly."

Dawson said the only way he could have beaten Zhang was to mix up the shots with both hands.

"Gordon is a good player," he said. "I don't think I would have taken the second set playing left-handed. In the final game I had to hit it completely right-handed."

Though Dawson outlasted Zhang, he had to play the championship match against Jimmy Li of Wheaton Warrenville South entirely with his left hand and lost 6-0, 6-0.

"Kyle was a real winner out there today," Li said. "Playing through that injury is the hardest thing you can do as an athlete. The way he fought through that is admirable."

"Kyle's right arm feels pretty good when he's stroking the ball," said St .Francis assistant coach Art Coleman. "But the problem is when he lifts his arm to serve."

The host Huskies won the sectional with 27 points, and St. Francis finished second with 18.

Benet was in third place with 15, followed by Wheaton Warrenville South and Glenbard North, each with 14.

In singles Zhang defeated Matt Hirsh of Glenbard West 6-3, 6-0 for third place.

The top four singles players and the top four doubles teams qualify for the state tournament, which begins Thursday at various locations in the northwest suburbs.

Naperville North's Elliot Giraud and Reid Mutschler won the doubles championship with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Peter Simon and Matt Iverson of Glenbard West.

, while Phil Denys and Matthew Rurka of Benet defeated Naperville North's doubles team Marc Deetjen and Kevin Huang 7-6 (3), 6-4 for third place.

"Coming into the season, we had great expectations," said Naperville North coach Heather Henricksen. "We knew the talent we had was very strong at the top and we'd be a good sectional team. We had some ups and downs in the season, but we kept our composure and we were prepared for a day like today."