Boys tennis: Doubles duos key York’s narrow sectional win over Glenbard East
If you enjoy chaotic ways of determining a sectional champion, the Class 2A Willowbrook sectional on Saturday in Villa Park was for you. Yet at the same time, it wasn’t so chaotic.
York won its second consecutive sectional title but only after a third tiebreaker with Glenbard East was needed. Both were tied for first at the end of the meet with a score of 22, and that’s where the real fun began.
The first tiebreaker was semifinal qualifiers. The Dukes had two with their doubles teams of Nate Yu and Brennen Maxeiner and Saveen Shah and Kieran Goldstein. The Rams also had two with Finn Talbot in the singles bracket and their doubles team of Evan Fine and Alek Jovanovic.
The second tiebreaker was sectional championships. York was guaranteed one when both doubles teams reached the title match, and Talbot gave one to Glenbard East by winning the singles championship, 6-2, 6-0, over top seed Garrett French of Glenbard West.
“I didn't want to get ahead of myself,” said Talbot. “So I played every point. I wasn't focused on the outcome. I was like, 'One point at a time.' But when I won, I was pretty happy.”
The third tiebreaker was semifinal wins. So with the Dukes completely occupying the doubles championship and only Talbot playing for a title for the Rams, it came down to whether Fine and Jovanovic could win the third-place doubles match.
The victory instead went to Will Arensen and Sam Hill of Wheaton North, 6-2, 6-4, giving the Dukes the title. Talbot's singles title came after the team championship had been decided.
“All 16 of our varsity players are very coachable,” said first-year York coach Brad Sullivan. “And that's been, yeah, I think, the reason that we're doing well.”
With the team championship already secure, Yu and Maxeiner, the top seed in the doubles bracket, was the last duo left standing after defeating Shah and Goldstein, 6-3, 6-3. This came after sweeping through Fine and Jovanovic in the semifinals, 6-0, 6-0. Shah and Goldstein defeated Arensen and Hill in that round, 2-6, 6-0, 6-3.
“It was definitely pretty cool playing them in the final,” Maxeiner said. “It was a good, like, stress reliever because we could just have fun out in the finals.”
Eduardo Morales of Glenbard North took the third-place singles match by beating Gavin Kelly of Wheaton North, 6-1, 6-1. Morales lost to French in the semifinals, 6-4, 6-3, while Kelly fell to Talbot, 6-0, 6-2.
Wheaton North finished third in the sectional with 21 points, Glenbard West was fourth with 16, and Glenbard North took fifth with 13.
By virtue of results in earlier rounds, Willowbrook was sixth with 12, Lake Park finished seventh with 10, and Addison Trail placed eighth with 6.
The top four finishers all qualified for state that starts Thursday at Palatine and surrounding high schools.