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Boys tennis: Galvin plants the seed with sectional championship

Mack Galvin has done all he can.

Now it's up to the committee to decide his fate.

The four-time state qualifier from Rolling Meadows High school came away with a championship ring on Saturday afternoon at the Conant sectional.

He raised his record to a 35-0, sending a message to the state committee when it convenes on Tuesday in central Illinois.

"I'd like to think I earned a 3-4 seed, but there's nothing I can do but wait to find out, then get ready for my first match on Thursday at state," said the senior, who likely will sit just behind Vuc Budic of Deerfield and Mark Wu from Glenbrook North, who went one-two on Saturday at Highland Park.

Things couldn't get much closer in the team race with MSL West rivals Conant and Fremd even at tournament's end.

Each had 20 points but it was freshmen Vera Iyer's victory in the third-place match over Lake Park's Piotr Lada that gave Dave Koleno's club the tiebreaker, and a second consecutive sectional crown.

Lada's mates at doubles, Josh Solarz and Aayush Patel, continued their late-season thrill ride with a three-set victory (6-3, 3-6, 6-2) over Kevin Eberhardt-Max Brito of Schaumburg to win the doubles title.

Conant took home third and fourth place medals at doubles.

At singles, Fremd freshmen Kazuki Matsuno finished second to Galvin following his 6-2, 6-4 defeat,

"It was a good day all around, with everyone making a contribution to our championship," said Koleno, who will have his No. 1 doubles team of Nikhil Modak-Nico Rosas returning once again.

First-timers Iyer and Ryo Ishiyama and Arjun Rao will also join in on the fun which begins this Thursday at 11 area venues, including Conant.

Lake Park coach Tim Martin could not more proud of his lads who advanced, including his Solarz-Patel team who are now a dazzling 13-0 after their two wins on Saturday.

"Aayush impressed us right from the start when he made the varsity," Martin said. "And after we put him at two dubs at the start you could tell he had the makings of being a one dubs guy because of his poise and maturity - despite being just a freshmen.

"Both he and Josh are similar in that each are very intelligent, on and off the courts, and they compliment each other so well despite the difference in their ages (Solarz is a senior). Ever since we put them together at our Hildebrant Invite, they have just gotten better each time out."

The Lancers' top man Lada, who will move on to play at UIC next fall, will be making his third consecutive state appearance next week.

That comes as no surprise to Martin.

"He works so hard during the offseason,"Martin said. "His big serve, which is probably the best I've had here since taking over, his pace and ability to finish off points help set him apart from the others. I know he'll be looking to improve on his 2-2 record at the state last season."

The surprise of this tournament is easily that of the Eberhardt-Brito team, which came in as the 5-6 seed.

They leave with a runner-up trophy after a three-set loss to Lake Park in the final.

"Kevin was our No. 2 last year, and Max our No. 3, and even back then we toyed with the idea of putting together at some point," said Saxons coach Jason Campbell. "But when we looked a little deeper into the singles field here, we felt their best chance to get through would be at doubles, and that proved to be the right move for those guys."

The doubles pair had only four matches prior to this weekend, going 3-1 in limited time together.

"We wanted to get Kevin some wins at singles to help his status for the MSL tournament," Campbell said. "But in truth, we knew all along this was the right thing for both."

at Stevenson: During his first three seasons playing tennis for Stevenson, Benjamin Bush was a part of three consecutive sectional championships.

Make it four.

Bush helped his teammates lift the big trophy once again Saturday at the Vernon Hills Athletic Center after the Patriots outscored a field of nine others.

The University of Wisconsin-bound Bush and his partner, Sam Komis, fell in the finals to teammates Brian Weisberg/Matt Harvey 6-4, 6-1 to perhaps move them closer to a 3-4 seed from the tournament committee.

Stevenson freshman Zach Kim (22-7) played as if he were an upperclassmen all throughout the two-day contest. He put an exclamation point on his first sectional tournament with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Wauconda sophomore Brian Hackman to win the competition at singles.

Barrington freshman Dylan Er (19-13) bounced back in style after losing his semifinal to Kim, as he defeated Cao, 6-1, 6-3 to capture third-place honors.

"Dylan has elevated his play during the last three weeks," Broncos coach John Roncome said. "We obviously are very pleased and proud of his effort here during the past two days and look forward to watching him play in the state tournament for the first time."

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