Boys tennis sectional roundup: Battle-tested Stevenson ready for state

Stevenson junior ace Jaden Dai won exactly zero points in two matches at Saturday’s Class 2A Deerfield boys tennis sectional — and still captured the singles title.

The Patriot won via default twice, first over Deerfield freshman Steven Jiang (illness) in a semifinal and then over senior teammate Dustin Zhao in the final.

“Minor injury,” said Zhao, who first met Dai at a summer tennis camp in Lincolnshire more than nine years ago and has been good friends with the talented baseliner ever since.

“I’ll be fine (for next weekend’s state meet).”

The tie-breaker to determine the team champion didn’t feature a shot, either. Deerfield and Stevenson each scored 29 points but Deerfield earned the title plaque because it had netted four state berths to Stevenson’s three.

The Patriots’ top duo of senior Ian Williams/junior Akshay Maram finished third in doubles, joining Dai and Zhao as state qualifiers.

“Two solid singles players and a doubles team that has played in a lot of tough matches,” Patriots coach Izzy Balase said of his advancers.

“Everybody has been battle-tested,” he added. “And they’re all stepping up when the pressure moments happen. They’ve grown numb to those moments and are just playing good tennis.”

Libertyville junior Chethan Nickerson and sophomore Chase Peirce played sound doubles in sunny, chilly conditions on Saturday, downing Deerfield sophomores Tamas Rinder/Elliott Kastin 6-3, 6-2 in a semifinal before extending top-seeded Ryan Chernawsky/Blake Drexler of Deerfield to three sets in the final.

Nickerson/Peirce saved two match points in the 10th game of the second set and were 1 point away from taking a 3-0 lead in the third set.

But Chernawsky/Drexler halted the second-seeded Wildcats’ momentum by breaking serve and rolled from there, recording a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win.

“We set ourselves up well often but weren’t able to execute enough,” said Peirce.

“They were brick walls at the net,” Nickerson said. “We did a good job staying solid when we were down and showed we can hang with any doubles team.”

The last season Deerfield qualified the maximum four entrants to state was 2013. Former Palatine coach and current Libertyville resident Josh Leighton guided that squad to a fifth-place showing at state.

His 2025 crew of Warriors finished first-fourth in doubles and third-fourth in singles at Saturday’s sectional.

“I saw some great tennis this weekend,” he said. “That Libertyville doubles team played awesome, ripping groundies and winning some big points with their quick hands. Our guys (Chernawsky/Drexler) have been able to respond well to challenges these last couple of weeks. They’re figuring things out, attacking when they need to and poaching at the right moments in matches.”

Libertyville and Lake Forest each scored 12 points to tie for third place at the two-day event. Vernon Hills placed fifth (10) and Warren took sixth (6).

The 2A and 1A state tournaments start May 29 at tourney host Palatine and other sites.

2A Fremd sectional: At one of the most competitive sectionals, the formidable Mid-Suburban League trio of Hersey (28), Conant (26) and Fremd (24) went 1-2-3.

Hersey sophomore Matthew Sikorski defeated Fremd senior and reigning MSL No. 1 singles champ Shashwat Srivatsa for the singles title, while Hersey’s Andrew Weber/Jakub Pasielak downed Conant’s Austin Wu/Maximus Rysz in the doubles championship.

Conant’s Kabir Motwani and Fremd’s Leroy Jing went 3-4 in singles; Conant’s Nathan Desai/Haruki Watanabe bested Fremd’s Ved Mistry/Stanley Zeng in the doubles match for third place.

2A Glenbrook South sectional: Prospect senior David Motorga made shots — and program history — on Friday, becoming the first Knight to claim a fourth boys tennis state berth in at least the last 18 years, per Prospect coach Patrick Weber.

“It’s a great achievement,” said Weber.

A day after clinching another state ticket with a quarterfinal singles win, Motorga finished runner-up to Glenbrook North’s David Wang on Saturday.

Maine South’s Jovani Stoja/Walter Szulczewski advanced to state with a fourth-place showing in doubles.

2A Cary-Grove sectional: Team champ Barrington (32 points) emerged as the lone team in the MSL to advance all four of its entrants to the state meet.

In an all-Broncos doubles final, Avar Anand/Shian Mittal solved Sohan Yousfi/Adam Hyderi 6-3, 7-6 (2). Barrington’s Will Delach beat Jacobs’ Samuel Santa Ines 6-4, 6-2 in the singles final, and teammate Hadi Dossani lost 6-3, 6-4 to Huntley’s Will Geske in the match for third place.

1A Lakes sectional: Grayslake Central edged Carmel Catholic 21-20 for the team title, and Wauconda (19) finished third.

GC Rams junior Samay Patel topped the singles field and senior teammate Anthony Schultis took third.

Wauconda’s Sean Lenhart/Marshawn Gallego defeated Carmel’s Evan Villinski/Louis Vu in the doubles final. Lenhart placed fifth in singles at state last spring.

Other state qualifiers included Carmel’s Jack Doyle, Wauconda’s Noah Kosiek/Noah Schmidt and Saint Viator’s Chad Carlson/Leo Kostov.