Boys tennis: Barrington nets MSL West Division title
Barrington is champions in the MSL West Division after its 6-1 victory on a steamy Tuesday afternoon on the tennis courts of rival Fremd.
The Broncos (5-0-0) overcame a slow start to sweep all four flights at doubles and two of three in singles play to claim their second straight division title.
"We're obviously thrilled and happy to come here and get the win we wanted, but Johnny (Kent, Vikings coach) has a very good team, and some excellent players. So it wasn't an easy day here," said Broncos coach John Roncone, whose men are away on Wednesday at Lake Forest in their final tuneup before the MSL Conference Tournament begins at host Conant.
The spotlight match of this dual was at No. 1 singles where two of the best in the state took center stage on court one.
Fremd sophomore Andrew Spurck would defeat Broncos senior Pranav Gadiraju in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, to guarantee the No. 1 seed this weekend at the conference tournament.
"Pranav has a big serve, and is super talented, but for me, it was all about dealing with the heat, staying clean, and putting points away quickly to stay in control," said Spurck, who advanced along with Gadiraju into the semifinals of the prestigious Pitchford 32-team Tournament two weeks ago before rain washed things out.
"One big difference with Andrew this season is that (he) has that look in his eyes that he can beat anyone, and if he continues playing this way, he will have an excellent chance of a top 4 seed at state, or even higher," opined Kent.
Both the No. 1 and 2 Broncos doubles team dropped their opening set only to roar back to win the next two sets to claim three-set victories.
Ethan Paik and Gabe Mills erased a 6-1 first set defeat at the hands of Fremd's Amaye Shyani and Jason Sze to record a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory.
"Fremd came out so strong, so we just had to put that set behind and go after them," admitted Mills.
"We started to do the little things so much better after that first set loss to comeback and win. But in a few days we could play them again at conference. We're not going to hang our hat on this victory for too long," added Paik.
Their teammates at No. 2 (Shiv Sastry and Sahil Mittel) lost their first set 6-4 to Aditya Maddali and Arnan Sangamnerkar before turning things around to win their next two sets, 6-4, 6-3.
The Broncos at No. 3 and 4 were straight set victors: Nolan Pearson and Jacob Smith, 6-3, 6-4, and the No. 4 team of Arrav Nambiar and Colin Farley registered a 6-1, 6-0 triumph.
Broncos junior and 2021 state qualifier Deven Carse won easily at No. 2 singles (6-0, 6-3) over Vikings freshmen Shaswhat Srivasta, with teammate Eishi Amano needing just two sets (6-2, 6-1) to defeat Ved Mistry.
The Vikings (7-1-0, 4-1-0) will host Glenbrook South on Wednesday in their final nonconference contest of the season.