Boys tennis: Waubonsie Valley dominates sectional on home courts
No doubt about it, it was time for the Waubonsie Valley boys tennis team to flex its muscles.
After a pair of strong seasons the last two years that were not quite enough to dethrone rival Neuqua Valley for a sectional title, the Warriors claimed top honors with a dominating performance this weekend on their home courts while winning a 2A sectional title with 34 points. Their rival Wildcats finished in a tie for second place with Oswego East with 17 points.
The Warriors’ star No. 1 singles player junior Hector Diaz stayed perfect on the spring after knocking off previously unbeaten teammate Samayan Tayal 6-0, 6-2 in the finals. Diaz, who won three matches at state as a freshman, will take a 26-0 record into his second state finals appearance after not playing high school tennis last year.
“It’s good. It’s a little tough playing your teammate in the final, but it’s all good,” said Diaz, who has yet to drop a single set this spring. “You compete and we’re good buds. It was fun. We’ve helped each other get better.”
The two talented singles players helped the Warriors win their first DuPage Valley Conference title last week and they followed that up with the school’s first sectional crown since 2014.
The top-seeded Diaz won his first two matches without dropping a game and then beat Oswego East’s Pranav Kannan 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals. Kannan went on to claim third place after beating fellow state qualifier West Aurora’s Josh Hartman in three sets. Tayal, meanwhile, pulled out a pair of three-set victories on his way to the finals before his classmate handed him his first loss.
Veteran Warriors coach Phil Galow, whose No. 1 doubles team also finished first on Saturday, knows this is a special team he has in 2025.
“It’s a special group. That’s why I’m being quiet and just watching them play,” he joked while watching his two singles players duke it out in the finals and trying to also keep an eye on both of Waubonsie Valley’s state-qualifying doubles teams. “These kids are so talented. And we’ve got two sophomores and five freshmen.”
The Warriors’ No. 1 doubles unit of Revanth Kothapalli and Ishaan Kumar needed three sets to get past Neuqua Valley’s Andy Yu and Jayden Chiou in Saturday morning’s semifinals but then defeated the Wildcats’ top doubles team of Evan Yang and Ricky Kim 6-4, 6-4 for the title. The Warrior pair had needed three sets to defeat Neuqua’s top doubles team at the DVC meet.
“It’s very exciting,” Kumar said after rebounding to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the semis as he and partner Kothapalli seemed to get stronger as the day went on. “We have both of our singles players in the final, we’re in the final, and our other doubles team is in the third-fourth [place] match. It’s a pretty great feeling as a team.
“It gives us confidence. Even if we’re down we know we can come back and win points and win matches.”
Neuqua Valley coach Will Rose tipped his hat to the talented Warriors on Saturday, but he still has high hopes for his two doubles teams that qualified for state.
“My guys wanted to win sectionals again, but I told my guys, for Waubonsie it’s been a long time coming,” said Rose, whose team had claimed the last four sectional titles. “Two years ago Waubonsie was right there but we pulled an upset in the final to overtake them by one. Last year our guys played as good as they could and one or two matches went against Waubonsie which is why we were able to win. This year it’s nice to see them get it. They’re the team to beat.”
Neuqua’s Yu and Chio as well as the No. 2 pairing of Yang and Kim have state experience and plenty of talent, so they won’t be an easy out at state.
“I think we have two teams that can play on Friday. Hopefully they make it that far,” Rose said. “We’ve got to play our best tennis and with high school guys you never know.”
Yorkville took fourth in the team standings with 12 points and West Aurora placed fifth at 10.