May 7 was the last regular meet for boys varsity tennis before the Fox Valley Conference. The boys played Hampshire High School—a team in their conference—and fell short losing the meet two games to five.
The weather was particularly pleasant, compared to the bitter cold the team has had to deal with throughout their season. A bit windy, but they went in with confidence.
It was a home meet for varsity, and the lineup was changed around for this final home meet. Junior Christian Nunez played at first singles, senior Emeer Paz-Moody at second singles, and senior Andres Navejas at third singles. Despite all three having tough losses, they were able to get some good experience out of it.
“I was honored to be the first singles for my last game. I tried my hardest, I played hard, and although I came up short, it doesn’t mean I won’t try harder next year,” said Nunez.
For the doubles teams of the day, some came out victorious and others suffered tough losses as well.
At first doubles were junior Max Pilkerton and senior Nick Fangman. The two have not played as partners often, but successfully brought the team one of its two wins. In an amazing three set match, the pair won 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.
“Me and Fangman started out strong attacking. We fell a little bit in the second set but came back energized in the third set and had great teamwork to dominate the competition in the last regular season meet,” said Pilkerton.
A great win for the pair at one doubles, however turned bitter during the match when the two playing sides grew a bit tense. The pair called for a line judge when Hampshire was not playing fair.
The other win of the day was the third doubles pair, sophomores Matt Frederick and Vonn Navarro. This was their first varsity meet and they won it 6-3, 6-3.
“Considering that it was our first varsity match, I thought we played very well. It was a good way to end the regular season individual-wise,” said Navarro.
The other doubles teams of the meet were juniors Aakash Maniar and Marek Makowski, who lost at 6-4, 7-5. At fourth doubles were sophomore Connor Smith—usually a second singles player—and junior Vince Kambitsis, who lost their match 6-4, 6-3.
Even though it was the last regular meet for the boys, the season will continue when the starters go to the Fox Valley Conference on May 11 and 12.
