Boys tennis: Naperville Central reverses score vs. Naperville North

The only senior in another powerful Naperville Central boys tennis lineup, Kevin Yiu finds himself in a good place.

"I try to be a leader out there on the court and assist whenever I can," Yiu said. "This is one of the things that I look forward to every single year is the season. It's fun because you get to bond as a team. It's really nice to hang out and play tennis."

Before he heads to the University of Illinois, Yiu has unfinished business. He and the Redhawks took another big step toward one key item - a DuPage Valley Conference team championship - with Tuesday's 6-1 victory at defending champion Naperville North.

The Redhawks (11-1, 5-0 in DVC with 33 points) have only lost two of 35 conference matches so far. They won the DVC in 2014 but only Yiu and junior Bill Zhang remain from that lineup.

"I think it's really important because it's our step to being a team," said Yiu, a 6-2, 6-4 winner at No. 2 doubles with sophomore Mark Polowczak. "Everyone plays in the (conference) lineup. For the top six, it's a good step to see how good you are for sectionals."

Naperville Central had straight-set singles victories from Zhang, sophomore Ryan Roegner and freshmen Nathaniel Chavez and Alex Zhao at Nos. 1-2-3-4, respectively. Juniors Hemanth Kalidindi and Bailey Chen won in two sets at No. 3 doubles.

For Naperville North (7-3, 4-2 with 27 points), senior Jared Williams and junior Kirk Williams improved to 12-1 and 6-0 in the DVC with a hard-earned 6-4, 6-3 victory over sophomore Martin Matov and Ammaar Saeed, who entered 4-0 in league play.

In another match between opponents with perfect conference records, Chavez defeated freshman Sam Liu 6-4, 6-2. The Redhawks also remained undefeated in DVC play at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles and No. 4 singles.

Last year the Huskies won the rivals' dual meet 6-1.

"To turn that around this year really says a lot about the team we have this year," Naperville Central coach Dan Brown said. "I know these kids were really up for this match. This is as up, as focused as I've seen them from the get-go, all the way from the warmup to the end of the matches."

This continued a tough week for the Huskies, who lost 4-3 Tuesday to DVC newcomer Neuqua Valley, which the Redhawks beat 6-1 April 12. Both Napervilles begin play today at Hersey's Pitchford Invite, arguably the state's most prominent regular-season event. They also will be together at the Naperville North sectional.

"We knew it was going to be tough," said Naperville North coach Heather Henricksen, who used only four seniors. "Credit to Naperville Central. They've got such a solid program and a lot of great players."

Zhang appears headed for a third straight state singles berth. He's 9-1 with his only loss to Dunlap junior Victor Spolidorio, a top-24 state singles finisher in 2015.

On Tuesday Bill Zhang defeated Naperville North sophomore Kevin Zhang 6-2, 6-2. They are not related. Zhang, 4-0 at DVC No. 1 singles, has been alternating at Nos. 1-2 singles with Roegner, a transfer from Asheville, N.C.

"I think there are a lot of good guys this year so if we switch off we'll both have a good shot of getting it done at state, getting a lot of good competition," Bill Zhang said.

Yiu's 2015 sectional doubles partner graduated. Polowczak played singles at sectionals and figured to stay that way.

"I wasn't planning on playing doubles this year. It just happened," Polowczak said. "(Yiu and I) played at the beginning of last year and we just weren't good together. This year, we're just good and our chemistry's worked."

The Williams brothers played doubles at the 2015 sectionals and are together even more this season. Last year they played singles for DVC duals and doubles on the weekends.

"We've been practicing for, like, two years," Kirk Williams said. "Especially in this last year, we've been playing doubles against our coach and someone else on the weekends so that's really helped us a lot."

Matov and Saeed's last DVC victory was in three sets against Wheaton Warrenville South and required two days. Henricksen thought a key moment Tuesday was breaking the Redhawks' serve to begin the second set.

"(The Redhawks) were a strong team, so I think that was a good win for us," Jared Williams said. "I think it's good to play more doubles matches to get more chemistry."

"I'm incredibly proud (of them). They have worked so hard in the off-season to prepare themselves," Henricksen said.