After winning three dual matches to finish third in the Freeport Invitational this past weekend, the Hubs varsity tennis team continued its stretch of strong play with a decisive 5-0 sweep against Streator at home Monday evening.
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ROCHELLE — After winning three dual matches to finish third in the Freeport Invitational this past weekend, the Hubs varsity tennis team continued its stretch of strong play with a decisive 5-0 sweep against Streator at home Monday evening.
Rochelle improved to 7-10 overall with the victory, and with the IHSA Class 1A Sectional in Sterling less than two weeks away, head coach Kristy Eckardt said the Hubs have an opportunity to finish strong as they progress through the final week of regular season play.
“We’ve had many tough matches but we’ve been building up to this point in the season,” Eckardt said. “Coming out strong on Monday and getting wins up and down our lineup was good for our confidence.”
Rochelle dominated Streator in singles play, with senior Noah Griffith cruising past Greg Rashid 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 singles and senior Kevin Zheng downing Alex Granados 6-1, 6-0. Griffith improved to 20-1 overall with his victory, and Zheng said after his win that his confidence has increased tremendously since the start of the season.
“I found my opponent’s weakness and I attacked his weakness during the match,” Zheng said. “I noticed that his forehand was weaker than his backhand so I went for his forehand the whole match. I think I’ve improved my serving and my consistency on both forehands and backhands. We’re all doing a better job of hitting shots consistently and making fewer errors.”
The Hubs have rotated players in and out of their doubles lineup this season, but the Rochelle boys took all three doubles point from Streator on Monday. Juniors Juan Montemayor and Hector Garcia defeated Jason Houch and Tristen Geary 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles, while junior Chris Jones and Emilio Nava won over Luke Elias and Caleb Hawthorne 6-1, 6-3. Sophomore Gabe Nava and Sean Flanagan bested Max Baker and Nate Beck 6-4, 6-0 at No. 3 doubles.
“The boys are able to adapt and they’re comfortable playing with whoever is available on any certain day,” Eckardt said. “I think the confidence in their own skills is the biggest thing.”
Rochelle will host Newman Central Catholic for Senior Night on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. before traveling to LaSalle-Peru on Saturday for the Northern Illinois Big 12 Varsity Conference Championships which begin at 9 a.m. The Hubs will start sectional play in Sterling on Friday, May 18.
Rochelle hosted Rockford Christian on Tuesday, with the Hubs battling hard but falling in a close match by a score of 4-1. Griffith defeated Trevor Kornfeld 6-4, 6-0 at No. 1 singles while Zheng lost 0-6, 1-6 to Ben Anspaugh at No. 2 singles.
Montemayor and Garcia fell 0-6, 0-6 to Logan Johnson and Noah Kellerman at No. 1 doubles. Senior Jesus Nava and Jones dropped a tight three-set match to Trevor Beale and Grayson Smith at No. 2 doubles (7-6, 4-6, 3-10) while Emilio Nava and Flanagan lost in three sets (7-5, 2-6, 5-10) against A.J. Meister and Thomas Leibenberg at No. 3 doubles.
