Benet Academy boys tennis hosts one of the 2A sectionals with the Redwings, Metea Valley, Naperville North, and Naperville Central among the teams competing. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
In Saturday’s singles semifinal, Ian DiSanto from Benet Academy goes up against Naperville North junior Yanson Lew. The winner faces Ritvik Korrapatti from Naperville North in the championship.
Lew and DiSanto leave it all on the court
The Redwing freshman defeated Royce Lalani from Metea Valley in the quarterfinals to earn his state spot. He takes the first set 6-3, making a heads-up play when a shot hits the net and drops just over the net, but DiSanto gets it back over just in time.
Yanson Lew battles cramps throughout the day, with the temperature rising throughout the match. The Huskie forces a third set by taking set two 7-6.
Lew looks to put things away, leading 5-4 in set three, but DiSanto, who is also battling injury, fights back to even things up at 5-5 with a leaping backhand.
Lew is on his last legs, but is on the verge of victory with a 6-5 lead. A pair of strong shots force a return into the net, as the Huskie earns the hard-fought win. The cramps become too much to handle as Lew ends up leaving in an ambulance, forfeiting the singles championship match to teammate Ritvik Korrapati.
DiSanto is also forced to stop his third-place match against Michael Hauenstein from Wheaton Warrenville South due to a foot injury.
Mustangs and Huskies shine across the sectional
Onto the doubles bracket, where Henry Oyekanmi and Kaushik Nanduru from Metea Valley have qualified for state with a narrow win over Nick Tangedahl and Jaithra Shreeram from Naperville Central in the quarterfinals, before falling in the semis. The Mustangs square off against Josh Eun and Kush Shah from Naperville North, who earned their state spots with a win over Max Cruz and Max Van Vuren from Benet in the quarters.
The Mustangs take the opening set 6-2. In set two, the Huskies take the early lead. Eun lobs a return before Shah lunges towards the net and smashes a point down.
With Shah serving later in the set, Eun has a great return near the net after a brief volley. Shah then makes a great recovery and rockets a brilliant line drive forehand over the net and through for a point.
But the Mustang duo begins to use their size at the net, first with Oyekanmi quickly knocking a return over for a point. Nanduru follows suit as Metea pulls ahead and wins the second set 7-5 to earn the third-place medal. The seniors are heading to state for the first time in their careers.
Rish Railkar and Ameya Tyagi repeat as doubles sectional champs
It’s another Huskie-Mustang battle in the doubles championship with Noah Eun and Aayush Puntambekar from North taking on defending sectional champions, Rish Railkar and Ameya Tyagi. The Huskies defeated Dan Zeba and Declan Robinson from Benet in the quarterfinals before topping Oyekanmi and Nanduru in the semis, while Railkar and Tyagi defeated Josh Eun and Kush Shah in the other semifinals.
The Huskies jump out to a fast start in the first set, playing aggressively. Some good returns from Puntambekar and a perfectly placed drop shot from Eun, followed by a monster smash, help the Huskies take the set 7-5.
The Mustangs turn to their veteran experience as three-time state qualifiers. Railkar unleashes a flurry of returns, eventually getting a point as he fires a shot down the line. Tyagi then helps the Metea duo pull away with a nice return at the net and a missile of a forehand that powers home another point. The Mustangs take the next two sets, 6-1, 6-2, to win the doubles sectional championship for a second straight year.
Naperville North wins the Benet sectional title
But Naperville North is the team sectional champion, qualifying all six players onto the state meet later this week. A great season for the Huskies, who won the DVC championship as well. Metea Valley finishes in second, with Wheaton South in third and Benet in fourth.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page.
