ROCHELLE — Thursday evening was a successful outing for the Rochelle Hub varsity tennis team, which secured wins over Rockford Lutheran and St. Bede to open the 2024 season. 

After a series of weather cancellations, Rochelle was finally able to take the court on Thursday, when the Hubs hosted a trio of nonconference opponents including Rockford Lutheran, Rockford Christian and St. Bede. Rochelle faced Rockford Lutheran during the afternoon, scoring three of the four doubles points to edge the Crusaders for a 4-3 win. The Hubs finished the evening with another hard-fought victory, as Rochelle held off St. Bede for a 4-1 win.

The Hubs (2-0, 0-0 Interstate 8) played a trio of exhibition matches against Rockford Christian, who fielded only two players in Thursday’s meet. Rochelle will travel for a road match against Belvidere North on Monday before beginning Interstate 8 play at Sycamore on Tuesday.

“I was very pleased with how we played today all across the lineup," head coach Kristy Eckardt said. "We only had five of our returning players playing today, so the way all the new guys handled themselves was really great to see. We definitely have a lot of promise with the competitiveness and skills that our guys are starting to develop, and it was nice to finally see them play against other teams today."

Lutheran

The Hubs avoided the singles sweep against the Crusaders with a win at the No. 3 court, where freshman Connor Hunley defeated Dade Robinson 10-4 in a single-set match. Sophomore Philip Winters won two games in a 2-10 loss against Visvai Subramanian at the No. 2 court and senior Jimmy Chavez conceded a 0-10 defeat to Ben Temple at the No. 1 court in singles.

Rochelle clinched its win over the Crusaders in doubles, where senior Parker Lenkaitis and sophomore Mark Green teamed up for a clean 10-0 sweep over Landon Horn and Kevin Aulner at the No. 1 court. The Hubs scored a crucial doubles point at the No. 2 court, where seniors Eli Luxton and Austin Raleigh edged out Lutheran’s Dean Akre and Cale Patkus for a 10-8 win. 

Freshmen Noah McKinney and Sam Sergeant battled Conrad Johnson and Douglas Johnson at the No. 3 court, falling 6-10. Senior Alex McBride and freshman Amor Lara received a forfeit at the No. 4 court for the Hubs, as the Crusaders did not have enough varsity players.

St. Bede

Rochelle found more success in singles during its match against the Bruins. Sophomore Philip Winters cruised over Mark Rudenko for a 10-4 win at the No. 1 court, while freshman Connor Hunley defeated Noah Buck 10-6 at the No. 2 court. Freshman Derek Swartz fought well in his match against St. Bede netter Brax Kim at the No. 3 court, taking six games in a 6-10 defeat.

Rochelle swept the two doubles points against the Bruins on Thursday, with seniors Eli Luxton and Austin Raleigh dominating Solomon Zhang and Julian Villava for a 10-2 win at the No. 2 court. Senior Parker Lenkaitis and sophomore Mark Green also shined in their match against Isaac Kang and Tyler Walsh at the No. 1 court, dropping only one game in a 10-1 victory.