Team Gren comes through big-time for Grayslake Central
Angry people see red.
Mitch Granger, a pleasant Grayslake Central netter, saw green on Saturday — GLC green — as he strode to a bank of three courts at the Elk Grove tennis invite.
The Rams’ senior was about to face Marist’s Alex Haizel for the No. 1 singles title.
Central mates Drew Carpenter and Jack Lettenmair, meanwhile, battled for the No. 1 doubles championship on the adjacent court.
Two courts down from Granger, another Ram — senior Anatoliy Mykhaylovskyy — blasted winners in the No. 3 singles title match.
“That fired me up, watching my teammates go for championships before and during my final match,” the Western Illinois-bound Granger said after his 6-3, 6-2 victory. “I had a responsibility out there. I had to win for my team, not myself.
“The team aspect,” he added, “means so much.”
Team Green ganged up for four of the invite’s five flight titles to top the nine-team field with a 24-point total. Crystal Lake Central (16) finished runner-up, followed by Grayslake North (15), Lake Park (15) and Marist (13).
“When you get out there (for finals), with so many of your teammates nearby, you feel like a big shot,” said Lettenmair, after he and Carpenter nailed enough big shots to win their final, a 7-5, 6-4 defeat of CLC’s Jake Lenhard/Danny Nelson. “We were freaking out a little, after falling behind (4-1 in the second set), but we got aggressive and won for the team, not ourselves.”
The Ram/Ukraine native with the lengthy name, Mykhaylovskyy, skipped to a snappy 6-1, 6-0 win over Grayslake North junior Chris Lewitzke, a scrappy, indefatigable Knight. Mykhaylovskyy views instructional DVDs — “From the library,” he said — when he feels his groundstrokes are off, and he stays sharp, as a competitor, by challenging his father, Yuriy, to dead-serious ping-pong games in their basement.
“He didn’t make many errors,” said Lewitzke. “My plan was to play my game: hit it back, hit it back, hit it back. But his pace — too much. (Anatoliy) hit hard, hit a lot of winners. He has improved so much since I last played him (in 2009).”
Grayslake Central’s No. 2 tandem, juniors Tim Adornetto/Johnny Lashbrook, defeated Lake Park’s Vishal Menon/Jack Millikan 6-2, 6-1 for the Rams’ fourth flight championship. Teammate Steve Kveton contributed third-place points at No. 2 singles.
Saturday’s No. 1 single final was Granger’s fourth career meeting with Marist’s Haizel, who won two of the first three clashes.
“You have to be aggressive every single point against him,” said Granger, an ’09 state singles qualifier who returned to Grayslake Central after moving to Florida with his father, Ed, last year. “If you get complacent, he jumps on your shots.”
Haizel broke Granger’s serve in the eighth game of the first set, but Granger (9-1 overall) broke right back to take the set 6-3. The Ram often used his highly effective slice backhand in the second set, forcing Haizel to stab at ankle-high shots. Granger’s big forehand — heavy, deep topspin whacks — also prevented the Redhawk from dictating matters.
“Mitch’s conditioning ... he worked so hard on that when he was in Florida, and it’s now one of his many strengths,” said Central coach Chuck Lawson said. “And he’s taller (6 feet). Stronger, too, physically and mentally.”
Granger raced to a 4-1 lead in the second set of his final. Haizel won the next game and was a sniff away from narrowing the gap to 4-3. But Granger smacked a pair of late passing shots (first a backhand, then a forehand on game point) to secure a 5-2 lead.
Lake Park coach Tim Martin, after his No. 2 duo finished runner-up Saturday: “(Menon/Millikan) played very good competition. They played their best tennis (in a 7-6, 6-4 quarterfinal win). Each was aggressive, communicated well, played with a lot of energy.”
Elk Grove’s Winston Feng/Hiroki Abe teamed up for the Grens’ best finish, taking third at No. 2 doubles.
“I liked their fighting spirit; they never gave up,” EG coach Robert Gurolnick said.