ARLINGTON HEIGHTS — Rochelle Township High School junior tennis standout Noah Griffith made his second straight trip to the Illinois High School Association Class 1A state singles tournament on Friday and won a match before being eliminated on Friday afternoon.
Griffith lost 6-0, 6-1 in two sets to Natan Spear of Northside High School in Chicago in his first match of the day, but bounced back nicely in the consolation round with a convincing 6-0, 6-0 victory over Paris High School’s Jacob Randolph.
In his third match, Griffith fell 6-0, 6-1 to Alex Bergendorf from Glenbard South, which put him in 33rd place in the state.

“I was happy to get a win this year at the state level,” said Griffith. “I had a pretty tough bracket draw, but you can’t do anything about that but just play your hardest.”
Griffith ends the year with a fine 25-6 record, and he plans to work on several aspects of his game this off-season in hopes of going deeper into the state tournament next year.
“I need to improve my serve consistency for one thing,” he explained. “I need to get more of my first serves in play and not double fault as much. I also need to cut down unforced errors.”
The scrappy junior said he will strive to win conference and sectionals again next season, and the state tournament experience the past two seasons helped him get better.
“It’s been good to see the type of competition I’ve faced at state,” he added. “It helps you see what you have to improve on.”