Another command performance keeps Conant on course
Conant's boys tennis team continues to thrive under new coach Dave Koleno. The Cougars provided the most recent evidence against host Schaumburg on Thursday afternoon, recording a 7-0 shutout to run their Mid-Suburban League record to 3-1-0.
Senior Connor Sacks (8-2) outlasted his sophomore opponent, Dillon Early, in a long three-setter (7-5, 2-6, 7-5) in the final match of the day to give the visitors the sweep, while the doubles team of Glenn Huang and Matt Meyers ran their record to 7-2 after a 6-2, 6-1 victory over YJ Park and Harshal Patel.
"So far, so good," said Koleno, whose club has beaten reigning MSL East champ Rolling Meadows as well as Elk Grove in the early portion of the conference schedule. "Connor gets better and better each time out, and our No. 2 guy, Kohei Ishii, has really grown into his role, thanks to a lot of consistent play, and his improvement in the mental part of the game."
Ishii is undefeated in MSL play thus far.
Junior Zeshnam Haq, who helped the Cougars sweep Prospect in singles play two days ago, also earned a straight-set win at No. 3.
Huang and Meyers, who fell in two sets to Prospect's Ralph Tenuta/Sam Tambeaux, have had to learn on the fly, according to Koleno, after moving into the top spot for the Cougars following their position at No. 3 doubles last season.
"The biggest thing with those two is to convince them to get to the net and limit their unforced errors, because it's all about percentages, especially at doubles," offers Koleno.
"We've been friends forever," said Huang, "and doubles partners for two years, so we can yell at each other and not be offended. And it's that type of chemistry that makes it so great to be playing together."
"Yeah, we're really comfortable with whatever we say to each other," Meyers said, "and I really feel we're getting better each time we play, and especially against good teams like Prospect and Barrington."
The duo will have another chance to see how they measure up when Conant travels to the north side of Chicago this weekend to compete in the Chicago Latin Invite and the likes of New Trier, which has dominated the proceedings each spring.
Mohan Chennakesavlu and Nickel Modak won their match at No. 2 doubles, as did the Cougars at Nos. 3 and 4 as Ryan Cornell and Greg Lindquist (No. 3) and Ryo Ishiyama and Khoshal Shah helped the visitors stay perfect.
Cornell and Lindquist fought off Kaleb Courtney and Julian Guevara 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
Sacks appeared to be in control in the third and final set, going up at 5-1 after breaking Early a second time before the talented Saxons No. 1 overcame a bout of leg cramps to slowly get himself back into the match
Early first broke Sacks to make it 5-2, then used the momentum of the break to win a high rate of long rallies and a trio of deuce games to hold serve.
"Dillon was at No. 1 dubs last season because we needed to fill that spot in our lineup, but his game is best suited for singles," said Schaumburg coach Jason Campbell. "He came into the season really excited to be our top player, and despite the adjustment of now playing everyone's No. 1 he appears to be settling into the role just fine.
"He still has a lot to learn, both on and off the court, but we're seeing a lot of good things from him, including second-place medals at the Niles West tourney and our own last weekend."
Campbell also had praise for senior Zach Pamatmat, who has embraced his job as Saxons captain this spring.
"Zach is a great leader, and it's been fun to watch him grow into the leadership position," Campbell said. "He's a model citizen who the guys look up to, and he has been the communication network who has kept everyone on this team in the loop on everything - both during the off-season and now. And he conducts himself with a lot of class with whatever he does."