Tyler Anderson knew he had his hands full in the State Finals when he drew 5/8 seed Krishna Ravella from Hinsdale Central for his very first match.  Tyler played well but was overpowered by Ravella’s powerful and consistent game and lost in straight sets, 1-6, 1-6.  In his first backdraw match Tyler rebounded nicely with a strong win over Quincey’s Andy Tipton, 6-0, 6-0.  Tyler’s third match of the day was his longest and best.  He played a player from Moline, Ian Golden, who had beaten him in straight sets earlier in the year.  Tyler improved his play against Golden and took him to three sets before losing 4-6, 6-2, 2-6.  Tyler was 2-1 at state and earned 2 points for U-High.

Evan Levin and Bill Steuben also played some good tennis and finished their run at state with one win and two losses.  Bill and Evan handily won their first match against a team from Carbondale, 6-1, 6-1.  But then they came up against a seeded pair from Highland Park, Manci and Brint.  Evan and Bill held their own against this team but were eventually overpowered.  After losing the first set 1-6, the U-High doubles pair picked up their game in the second set and made a brief run for a 2-0 lead.  But Highland Park broke back, and several more breaks of serve for both teams brought them a 6-1, 6-3 victory.

Bill and Evan’s last match of the day against O’Fallon’s Fleming and Sullivan brought out their best tennis.  They played a see-saw three setter.  In the first set U-High was down a break with O’Fallon serving for the set at 6-5.  But Evan and Bill broke back and went on a seven point streak that won the tiebreak 7-0 and gave them the first set 7-6.  The second set was also up and down with one team breaking serve only to be broken back on its service game.  Bill and Evan dropped serve at 4-5 to lose the second set 4-6 and eventually lost the match, 7-6, 4-6, 2-6.

U-High’s varsity boys tennis team had a very successful season.  They had a winning season overall, won the sectional tournament, sent three players to the state tournament, and had a respectable showing in the state finals.

Posted on May 29th, 2009 by ghanck
Filed under: HS Boys Tennis