Scouting the 2022 boys tennis season in Lake County

With its mastery in the North Suburban Conference the postseason, Stevenson's boys tennis program has rightly been in the spotlight for what seems forever.

However, it appears the Patriots may have to share center stage with at least three other Class 1A teams, who look to have plenty of weapons in their arsenal to challenge for a top-four finish at the state tournament.

"I think one of the big stories to watch is over in 1A here in Lake County, especially after the great job Doug Gerber did at Vernon Hills which finished fourth in the state," said Greg Cohen, who served as an assistant to Gerber before taking over the Mundelein program this spring.

Gerber's team overwhelmed the competition at its own sectional - and sent its entire team to the state tournament - where it collected 18 overall points to tie with Wheaton Academy for its best finish in program history.

"We're coming off our best season ever with a dual record of 18-4-1, and our terrific success in the postseason, and even though we lost four quality players, we have a very nice influx of young talent that looks to make an immediate impact," said Gerber, who will get ready for the postseason with the likes of Deerfield and Highland Park in the CSL North.

The Cougars No. 1 man, Aditya Sabharwal is back, along with five other seniors, who will mentor the freshmen trio of Rohit Dashaputra, Daniel Shchbalev, and Aarush Vora.

Cohen, and others, figure Wauconda, and Grayslake North are capable of a strong challenge for a state trophy on the final weekend of the season - which is good news to coach Ben Volheim at Wauconda.

"Expectations are high here at Wauconda, but we are focused first and foremost with winning the conference, the sectional, where we'll look to get all six positions advancing to state," said Volheim. "We have six returning seniors, and two very talented freshmen, so if we handle our own business on the court, the rankings will play out. Again, our focus will be on playing the best tennis as possible."

Volheim says his top three - Sean Lenhart, and Marshawn and Memphis Gallego will battle with the best around, with senior Dylan Brannik, who is a state qualifier at doubles with Memphis Gallego, one half of the Bulldogs' No. 1 team.

Grayslake North will ride the one-two punch at singles from three-time state qualifier, Christian Abban, along with fellow qualifier Dylan Clausen, who helped the Knights earn 15th overall at state.

Once in the postseason, and hopefully into the state tournament, the Knights, Vernon Hills, and Wauconda will take aim at reigning 1A champion Chicago Latin, as well as Dunlap, and Benet Academy as the favorites to finish atop the leaderboard.

Carmel Catholic will chase East Suburban Catholic Conference powers Benet Academy, and Nazareth, along with the rest of the league, so Corsairs coach Gina Borkowski will lean on her top man at singles CJ Axcente, as well as Miles Whelan, who each advanced to state, Whelan at doubles along with since graduated Jack Gallagher, who together made it to the fifth round in the consolation bracket.

"We have four back from a year ago, with Miles our lone senior, and a strong group from our JV team who should make for a very competitive team this season," said Borkowski.

Former two-time state qualifier Izzy Balase, who starred first at Schaumburg, then later at Judson College where he was instrumental in a NCAAA national championship, takes over for Tom Stanhope, who, after 12 sensational seasons at Stevenson stepped down as Patriots head coach following the 2021 tennis campaign with a dazzling 136-27 overall record, which included 11 sectional titles and a list of state qualifiers and state medal winners far too long to list.

"This program has set some high standards, year after year during that great run Stanhope had here but I could not be more thankful to now be a part of a great team and program that has and even better group of student-athletes," said Balase.

The Patriots are coming off their 20th NSC title a 15-1 overall record and a third-place finish at state with three players back from the 2021 state team.

Junior Ashy Madhushankar (17-10) is the Pats' No. 1 man at singles, while the doubles team of Erwin Perkowski-Gabe Visotsky (23-10), who lost in the state consolation quarterfinals, are ready to take over at one-dubs for Balase.

"We have three newcomers ready to step up this year plus Gautham Kappaganthula and Daniel Jaworkski, who are looking to make an impact with their experience, and leadership," says Balase.

"Success won't come easy, but I am expecting the players to put forth their best effort, and attitude when they come to practice and compete."

The No. 1 and 2 men at singles at Libertyville, Wilber Warren, and Conner Stelter, enjoyed a nice run into the state tournament a year ago and will be the ones to watch for head coach Dan Kierman.

Cohen will have nine back at Mundelein including his top two players at singles Kevin Edquiban and Brandon Hinkle, as well as the trio of Aedan Cruz, Kurt Dumblauskas, and David McKee will afford Cohen plenty of flexibility as all three played at multiple spots in the Mustangs' lineup in 2021.

"This is a great group of young men that are willing to work hard and they will compete this year with tournaments every weekend of the season," said Cohen.

"We have a strong sophomore class, of which I expect four or five to be in our starting lineup and the improvement during the offseason from Dumblauskas and Cruz is going to very much help this team."

Michael Edler, who served as an assistant to Cohen while he ran the show at Warren, has eight back on his Blue Devils club, with the bulk of his doubles lineups in place to give Edler strength, experience and depth.

"The NSC is always super tough, but we're looking to build off last year's success that we had and this team is excited to play with each other, but has demonstrated a lot of internal competitiveness for spots in the top eleven," says Edler, who welcomes freshman Archit Prakash, who might be the early favorite to handle things at No. 1 singles.

Edler will eventually sort out things at doubles with juniors Sam Bogot, Sanjiv Kondin, Arjun Shah, and Evan Wong all making their push for Nos. 1 and 2 doubles.