Elgin Academy’s Vogel bows out at state

Charlie Vogel’s terrific tennis career came to an end Thursday afternoon when the Elgin Academy star lost his second match of the day at the state tournament, but not without treating perhaps the largest, and most loyal fan group at the Hoffman Estates High School.

With several members of his family and friends on hand, plus nearly a dozen special young guests courtside, Vogel would win his opener over Pranv Puri of Moline, before losing in straight-sets to 9-16 seed Scott Christian from Lake Forest.

One round later, Vogel would be eliminated in straight sets (6-3, 6-3) by Calen Crim of Morton.

“It’s been a great run for me at Elgin Academy,” began Vogel, who will attend Salt Lake City Community College next fall and continue his playing career there.

“There have been a lot of memories while playing here, but today, having so many people here to cheer me on, and especially these 4th graders from the early childhood class that I help with makes it all that much better for me.”

The 3-time state qualifier finishes his final season with a record of 17-6.

“I had a great run at the end of the season to get here, and played some very good players today, including Scott Christian. The conditions today with the heat and strong winds made it interesting out there today, and in that match with (Christian) I might have run out of gas a little at the end, but I still feel that I played well against a very good player,” added Vogel, who was mobbed by his young fans who couldn’t wait to be with their favorite tennis hero just long enough to be the part of several photo ops.

“Charlie Vogel is a terrific young man, and an excellent player, who plays with a lot of class and sportsmanship, and it was a pleasure to have him be a part of our sectional last weekend in Elgin,” said South Elgin head coach Brett Johnson, who watched his top player, Andre Norasith, bounce back from a hard fought three-set loss defeat to Vernon Hill’s Ismail Kadyrov to win his next two to remain alive in the back draw, which continues today for the sophomore at Fremd High School at 8 a.m. against Springfield senior Patrick Gaffigan (32-4).

“We’re beginning to see the sport grow out our way with guys like Charlie, and in our program, where for the first time in program history, we won a first-round match at the tournament with (Andre), while also advancing a double team (here) today as well.”

The Storm’s Francis Manzano and Aayush Patel would bow out after consecutive losses on Thursday.

“I am really proud of our players here, and of our program overall, and we’re beginning to see how the extra work, and commitment from the players is beginning to pay dividends and that’s exciting, and says a lot about the future of tennis at South Elgin,” continued Johnson.

Noraseth (34-5) remains as the lone participant remaining from the area when the second day of the 97th state series begins early this morning, after fellow singles players Mikel Canovas (Elgin) and Christian Dela Cruz (Hampshire) went out during the day.

Canovas made a valiant comeback during his opening match at Hersey to defeat Patrick Kuhle (Decatur St. Theresa) in three sets after dropping the first set (4-6), but the Maroons’ top player was unable to spring a second straight surprise on 17-32 seed Mike Baiocchi (Neuqua Valley) before Matt Bisbee of Marist ended his season.

Over at doubles, the Jacobs duo of Kingsley Bernardo-Kristian Bernardo went 0-2 at Barrington High School, while sectional runners-up Dundee-Crown (Eric Martin-Brad Spangenberg) gave Oak Park-River Forest (Rasley-Arends) a scare, before falling in straight sets.

Later, the Chargers would see their tournament stay end with a loss to Geneseo.

“Those guys played just great against OPRF,” said a proud D-C head coach Harlan Miller.

“It was a little overwhelming at first when you would look around to see so many teams from around the state on the same courts (Buffalo Grove) that we were on, but we felt that we deserved to be here, and I thought that Brad and I played really well in our first match ever at the state tournament,” said Martin, who will attend Northern Michigan University.

Elgins’ Sakda Kethdy and Eric Chai were eliminated their two matches at Palatine.