Boys tennis: Benet’s doubles team pulls big upset at state
Many elite No. 1 singles players on high school boys tennis teams have to either travel to practice against other elite netters or spar with club head pros to keep their games sharp between meets each season.
Not at Hersey.
Nor at Hinsdale Central.
Hersey senior ace Mitch Sheldon and his HC counterpart, senior Alex Kotarski, each has a strong No. 2 singles teammate in senior Brent Chen and junior Nathan Hernandez, respectively.
“I know a No. 1 singles player who drives 45 minutes each week to practice against another very good player,” Hernandez said Thursday morning at the Class 2A state tournament. “Alex and I like to battle each other in practice. He pushes me and motivates me every day.”
“We’ve had some crazy points in practice,” Sheldon — the No. 1 state seed in 2A — said of drills with Chen after last weekend’s sectional action. “It helps both of us.”
The intense in-house sessions paid off handsomely.
All four won three matches Thursday to reach the state quarterfinals, with each matchup set to start at 8 a.m. Friday at Palatine. Sheldon will face Evanston’s Finn Pollard; 5-8 seed Hernandez will play Lane’s Marko McRae; and Chen, a 9-16 seed, will take on 3-4 seed Kotarski with 4 crucial team points and a semifinal berth on the line.
Michigan State-bound Sheldon skipped to a pair of 6-0, 6-0 victories and a 6-0, 6-2 triumph, and Chen upset 5-8 seed Charlie Morgan of Naperville Central 6-3, 6-1 in the Round of 16.
The fourth quarterfinal features second-seeded and reigning 2A state singles champ Andrew Spurck of Fremd vs. Von Steuben’s Garvin Murray. Spurck won his 100th career match (singles and doubles combined) Thursday morning and improved to 90-9 in singles when he edged Springfield’s Noah Williams 7-5, 7-5 in a third-round match that could have passed for a resounding semifinal.
“(Williams’) forehands were insane,” praised Spurck, who, like Kotarski, is a Xavier (Ohio) recruit. “I had to dig deep and figure out what I needed to do. I had to energize myself, fire myself up, to get into it (after trailing 4-2 in the first set).”
Fremd’s doubles team of Amaye Shyani/Shashwat Srivatsa, a 5-8 seed, secured a quarterfinal berth against 2A reigning state champs Evan Glebov/Blake Gold of Highland Park. Among the other quarterfinal pairings is Hinsdale Central sophomores Barry Zhu/Nicholas Marringa vs. Glenbrook South’s Alex Denizov/Bryce Abban.
Benet Academy’s Zach Bobofchak/Hugh Davis recorded the upset of the day in doubles, stunning 3-4 seed Matthew Sikorski/Jakub Pasielak of Hersey 4-6, 6-4 (10-7 super tie-breaker) in the Round of 32.
But Hersey’s Huskies still have a shot at receiving the first top-three team trophy in program history. Hersey sits second (17 points) behind Hinsdale Central (22) and ahead of New Trier (16), Glenbrook North (14), Barrington (12), Lyons (12), Fremd (12), Metea Valley (11), Edwardsville (10) and York (10) after day one of the three-day event.
MV’s Revanth Kothapalli netted a first-round win and a pair of back-draw triumphs to extend his season by at least another day. York’s Nate Yu/Brennen Mazeiner went 2-1 in doubles Thursday.
Wheaton North’s David Hill/Dylan Wallace will serve ’em up in a fourth-round consolation match Friday morning.
Huntley sophomore Will Geske came close to picking up a trio of consolation-round singles victories after a first-round loss.
“It’s mostly a mental battle late in a day like this,” first-year Red Raiders coach Kris Grabner said. “I love what Will said to me before this match (vs. Edwardsville’s Colton Hulme). He told me, ‘Last match of the day for me. I’m going to leave it all on the court.’
“Both players, I’m sure,” the coach added, “will find another gear.”
Geske, alas, lost 3-6, 6-3 (10-6).
In Class 1A, Hinsdale South, behind junior Zeke Bisharat’s three front-draw wins, is tied for ninth place with 8 points, 10 fewer than co-leaders Chicago (University) and Dunlap. Bisharat will face Sterling senior and 9-16 seed Brecken Peterson in a quarterfinal at Hersey at 8 a.m. Friday.
Second-seeded Benedict Graft of Marmion Academy lost only two games in six dominant sets en route to a state quarterfinal date with Wauconda junior and 9-16 seed Sean Lenhart.