With rain delaying their previously scheduled matchup, the stage is set for Naperville Central to welcome Naperville North to its tennis courts. The Huskies are eager for their first conference win of the season, while the Redhawks aim to cook up a 2-1 DVC record. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Charlie Morgan starts strong on the singles
Things get cooking right away with Charlie Morgan from Naperville Central at one singles who starts strong against Brandon Dumbell from North. Morgan showed no mercy on his opponent and took it in straight sets by scores of 6-1 and 6-1.
Huskies get a spark with two and three singles
Naperville North freshman Yanson Lew steps up in the two singles and takes Naperville Central’s Emil Nehan. A little back-and-forth-ends in Lew’s favorite after a failed send-back. Lew is the one bringing out the brooms as he sweeps Nehan 6-3 and 6-2.
Max Buxbaum from Naperville North fights hard at the third singles spot and eventually secures a three-set victory over Naperville Central’s Jason Cheng, which helps the Huskies go 2-1 in the singles matches.
The Huskies hope to return the favor in four doubles, and this point for John Harvey and Patrick O’Connell shows promise. That quickly reverses, with Drew Lifka and Oscar Riddle answering back with a Redhawk point. Riddle and Lifka claw out a three-set win, and this victory, plus three doubles and the one singles win, has Central up 3-2.
Doubles help Naperville North boys tennis to a win
Let’s jump to the two doubles as Central’s Zach Highhouse and Jason Ku take on North’s Qooly Somoza and Aarush Bhardwaj. It’s Highhouse and Ku coming out strong as points like this help the two get off on the right foot. Both Redhawks pull out their magic tricks, catching their opponents off guard with a Highhouse send back. Although Somoza and Bhardwaj get back on their feet, they steal the fire. An intense three sets results in Bhardwaj and Somoza coming out on top, and that ties the team score at 3-3.
Now we save the best for the last, the one-doubles match. It’s Naperville Central’s Rohan Jha and Peter Paik versus Sujit Vellanki and Noah Eun from Naperville North. Jha and Paik look to be the favorites because they handily win set one 6-0. That was just a wake-up call for Eun and Vellanki and the boys end up in a rally.
It takes some time but the Huskie pair get a point after a return lands out of play. A lot is on the line but Eun and Vellanki keep it together and win the match in three sets in comeback fashion and help Naperville North to a 4-3 team victory following an exciting afternoon of competition on the courts.
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