Prospect serves up key victory vs. Hersey
Prospect dashed the hopes of Mid-Suburban East rival Hersey in its quest to end the Knights' stranglehold on the divison title.
Sweeping all 4 flights at doubles, including a long 3-set match at No. 1, where Jon Kiefer and Sam Pope would prevail, the Knights defeated visiting Hersey 6-1 on Tuesday to take a giant step toward a fourth straight East championship.
"I am really happy for the guys today, especially our 2 and 3 (doubles) teams, which earlier in the year lost to Hersey, yet came back today to win in straight sets, and to help us earn a very important dual meet victory," said Knights coach Rick Huffman.
The Knights never looked back after Hersey star Eric Klawitter needed just under 30 minutes to defeat Dylan Fogarty (6-0, 6-0) at No. 1, as one-by-one, they recorded straight-set victories across the board to build a 5-1 lead before Kiefer and Pope finished off Kevin Amarantos and Yuki Chiba 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.
"I was kind of hoping that after losing to (Prospect) 6-1 my freshman year, then 5-2 the following season and 4-3 last year, that maybe our luck would change for all of us seniors on the team" said Klawitter (16-1), who enters the prestigious Pitchford 32 this weekend as a top 12 seed. "I am looking forward to the 32, and all of the talented players at No. 1, with the hope of helping myself out in the seeding process for both the sectionals and state tournament."
"I always thought (Klawitter) was a pretty good player, but this year he has really gone to another level with his play, and he's become a real source of pride in the MSL at singles," said Huffman.
Matt Wederitch and Mike Schultz gave the Knights victories at Nos. 2 and 3 singles over Kyle Magnuson and Billy Borst, respectively. Then it was time for their mates at doubles to take over.
John Behnke held serve to give he and Eric Krakowiak a 7-5, 6-2 victory at No. 3 doubles over Jake Wendell and Robin Shin before Blake Hyde and his partner Mike Ryndck upended Brandon Adams and Blake Steffens 6-2, 7-5 at No. 4.
It was more of the same at No. 2, where senior Jon Graven and junor Mike Hamman bounced Derek Albright and Danny Milewski, who came into the meet with an 8-2 record, 6-3, 6-4.
The match at No. 1 was the ultimate roller-coaster ride for fans of both sides, with Hersey taking the first set 6-4, breaking on top for good at 5-4 after Amarantos-Chiba broke Sam Pope.
The Knights looked like a different pair in the second set, going up 2-0, then 3-2 when Kiefer, in game No. 5, found a stinging serve, using an ace to help the home team capture the game.
After Chiba held serve, the Knights, with Pope on serve, grabbed the lead after a long rally, with Pope closing out the point at the net to help the Knights go up 4-3.
"We looked so good in that first set, then stopped playing aggressive, the way we did early on," said Hersey coach Brenna Ohlson. "Kevin and Yuki have shown to be capable of playing much better than they did today, and I hope they find their game in time for the 32 this weekend."