Naperville Central smoothing out the bumps

The Naperville Central doubles team of Matt Mason and Justin Gillette knew there would be some bumps in the road in their first year playing as a team.

And on Tuesday, Mason and Gillette drove through a stiff second-set challenge to win their first-doubles match and help lead the Redhawks to a 7-0 win over visiting Glenbard East.

Due to the knee injury suffered by first-singles Sid Swamy, Redhawks coach Dan Brown has been forced to shuffle his lineup, so Mason and Gillette, usually the second-doubles team, moved up a spot.

First-doubles Danny Albert and Wesley Lo played first and second singles, respectively, both winning their matches 6-0, 6-1.

Mason and Gillette cruised through their first set against Glenbard East’s Nick Cornell and Brandon Nasti, 6-0, but in the second set, the Rams pair stepped up and narrowed the gap to 4-3 before Mason’s strong serving sparked a winning game. The Redhawks (8-3, 2-0) closed out the set 6-3.

“We were playing textbook doubles in the first set,” the senior Mason said. “In the second set they hit some good shots and we missed some and they took a couple of games.”

“We were playing consistently,” said Gillette, a sophomore. “Then they started coming in with bigger serves and I wasn’t returning as well.”

Mason and Gillette, who have been winning consistently, believe they can qualify for state this year.

“We’ve come a long way already,” Mason said. “We get along great and we kind of play the same way. We both hit hard, we both serve big and really get into the game. We work well together.”

Mason, with more experience at doubles, has helped his partner through the early going, since Gillette was first singles on the sophomore team last year.

“I’ve never played doubles before,” Gillette said. “So having Matt who loves doubles as a partner has helped a lot. I used to think doubles was too slow, but it’s grown on me. Playing at a higher level is fun.”

“I think they’re confident in the way they’re playing now,” Brown said. “Gillette is learning the doubles game. It’s a surprise that someone who preferred singles looks so good and so comfortable on the doubles court, hitting volleys and closing the net the way he does.”

Bill Burt, the coach of Glenbard East (5-3, 0-2), was pleased with his first doubles and the way they played against Naperville Central.

He believes Cornell, a junior, and Nasti, a sophomore, who are also a new partnership, are getting better every match.

“They’re just learning the game,” Burt said. “They’re figuring out where each other is on the court, where to place the ball and they’re cutting down on their own unforced errors. If they continue this process, we can have a pretty nice season.”

Burt also praised Naperville Central’s play.

“They’re a deep team,” Burt said. “They put pressure on you the entire time at every position. They just don’t give up easy points.”