South Elgin shines at Larkin sectional
South Elgin’s tennis duo of Colin Ferry and Zach Bohlin were skeptical about moving from singles to doubles.
So were Hampshire’s Christian de la Cruz and Elisha Hougland.
Elgin Academy’s Christian Lynn, who qualified for the IHSA state meet as a doubles player last season, was transitioning back to singles this season.
The moves paid off all around and the South Elgin duo claimed the school’s first boys tennis sectional title, leading the Storm to its first team sectional crown Saturday at the Larkin sectional. South Elgin (22 points) narrowly edged out Elgin (17), Elgin Academy (16) and Hampshire (15) to win the team title.
Lynn won top honors in the singles division and Hampshire’s doubles team placed third to give De la Cruz and Hougland their first berths in the state meet.
“I suggested that they play doubles years ago, but they denied me every year,” Storm coach Jennifer Shaughnessy said of Ferry and Bohlin . “They did phenomenal. They definitely weren’t a big fan of it (at the beginning of the year), but they warmed up to it.”
The South Elgin championship victory was a forfeit over the Jacobs team of Brian Kaczar and Kinchit Joshi, both seniors who attended graduation, which was held at 10:30 a.m. and did not make it back to Larkin in time to play the final match. The IHSA rule states that players who are not ready to play when a court is available will be penalized 1 game after 5 minutes, 2 games after 10 minutes and a default after 15 minutes.
Jacobs coach Jim Benson was not available for comment after the match.
Ferry and Bohlin (30-3) defeated De la Cruz and Houghland 6-1, 6-3 to advance to the championship match.
“We’ve been playing really well,” Bohlin said. “Our coach really believed in us. They gave us all the strategies that doubles players have.”
Added Ferry: “We’re both easy going guys. Together and as a team, this is our strongest season so far.”
De la Cruz and Hougland were playing just their fourth match of the season as doubles partners entering the sectional tournament. Any differences needed to be shelved quickly if the duo wanted a successful run to state.
“We practiced together one day and worked just on communication,” said Hougland, a freshman.
The extra time working on communicative issues between the two paid dividends on Saturday.
“That practice definitely paid off,” de la Cruz said. “It had been hard to communicate.”
Lynn was down 2-1 to South Elgin freshman Andre Norasith but rebounded to win the sectional crown 6-3, 6-3. Lynn won a hard-fought semifinal match against Elgin’s Mikel Santos-Canova 7-5, 6-2. The senior used his strong serving skills to overpower the competition. Lynn advanced to state in singles as a sophomore and last year in doubles.
“Doubles has its moments, but there is no better felling than when it’s all on you,” said Lynn, who will play tennis at Bridgewater University in Virginia.
Elgin will advance Santos-Canova, who finished third in singles, and its fourth-place doubles team of Dan Hegel and Reza Khan. Santos-Canova was another doubles convert, after playing No. 2 doubles last season. The switch to singles paid off with the junior’s first trip to the state meet.
“I always wanted to play No. 1 singles,” he said. “I got my goal. I like singles more. The big thing is the mental strength.”
Santos-Canova won a default victory over Elgin Academy’s Charlie Vogel, who was ill and had a 3-set 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 loss in the semifinals to Norasith.
At Cary-Grove: Cary-Grove senior Chris Federighi defeated Crystal Lake South’s Cam Laktash for the singles title at the Cary-Grove sectional. Prairie Ridge won the team championship with 21 points.