ROCHELLE — Chris Jones had never received an award from an extracurricular program throughout his first two years at Rochelle Township High School, but that changed during the Hubs tennis team’s season-ending banquet Sunday evening.

The first-year varsity doubles player wasn’t expecting to bring anything home, but head coach Kristy Eckardt surprised him by naming him the team’s Most Improved Player. Jones was one of two players to receive a plaque Sunday evening, with Noah Griffith earning the High Point Award.

“I honestly wanted to scream because I was so happy,” Jones said. “Words couldn’t describe how I felt but I’m just so grateful and eager to go out and play two more seasons. This season was a struggle at first because of the transition from junior varsity to varsity but I just stayed resilient and I think that’s what helped me improve a lot from last year.”

With only one senior graduating from this year’s team, Jones is one of several young Hubs who could have a big impact with the Rochelle program next year. For Jones, he’s keeping his expectations high as the boys prepare for another run next season.

“I really hope to improve my record and I want to be an overall good player,” he said. “My ultimate goal as an individual is to make it to state my junior or senior year, and I would like to play No. 1 singles my senior year.”

Another player who earned an award Sunday evening was Kevin Zheng, Rochelle’s No. 2 varsity singles player who, along with Griffith, was named to the Northern Illinois Big 12’s Academic All-Conference Team. With two years of varsity experience under his belt, Zheng is aiming to up his game as he gears up for his senior season.

“I feel very proud of myself for knowing that I worked hard these three years to earn this award,” Zheng said. “I feel like I played very well this season and I improved a lot in my consistency from last year. I hope to get better on my groundstrokes and moving around more on the court. My ultimate goal is to make it to state and win more matches as a team.”

Garcia, who was not present at Sunday’s banquet, also received Academic All-Conference honors. Griffith represented Rochelle as the only Hub on the All-Conference First Team after a spectacular junior campaign that brought him his second straight state qualification as well as a top-4 sectional finish and over 25 victories at No. 1 singles.

“I work as hard in the classroom as I do on the court and it’s nice to see those efforts pay off,” Griffith said. “My success comes from working in the offseason and improving the mental part of my game. Individually I’d like to win conference and sectionals next year, and of course I’d like to make it to state again but I want to advance to the second day. Team-wise I’d like to see our record improve. We had a lot of new players this year and I think we just need to understand the game more.”