Kevin Zheng talked about his patience on the tennis court after the Hubs faced off against the Yorkville Foxes at Rochelle Township High School on Friday, but the junior didn’t have to wait long to record his first varsity victory of the season.
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ROCHELLE — Kevin Zheng talked about his patience on the tennis court after the Hubs faced off against the Yorkville Foxes at Rochelle Township High School on Friday, but the junior didn’t have to wait long to record his first varsity victory of the season.
Zheng was the first player to finish his match, taking down Yorkville’s Dan Rench 6-2, 6-1 in No. 2 singles play to put Rochelle up 1-0 over the Foxes. But a clean sweep in doubles competition propelled Yorkville to a 3-2 victory over the Hubs at the varsity level, with the RTHS freshman-sophomore team falling by a score of 4-1.
“I’m really proud of myself for staying patient,” Zheng said. “I’ve been keeping the ball high and in front of me on my serves and hitting the ball hard. I was patient and I had good forehand shots… I feel more confident now.”
Also winning in singles play was Rochelle junior Noah Griffith, who battled for over two hours against Fox junior Eric Nauman and emerged victorious by a score of 6-3, 6-4. It was Griffith’s second straight varsity win this season, and he said he was happy to keep the positive momentum going.
“I’m playing with a lot of confidence right now,” Griffith said. “My backhand was really flat today and I kept hitting balls out when I had the wind at my back. I couldn’t get my technique down at times but I rose above it and I tried to stay confident and keep going.”
Sophomores Juan Montemayor and Hector Garcia recorded Rochelle’s only game in doubles competition, with the two boys falling 1-6, 0-6 to Yorkville seniors Alex Burks and Josh Tatum. Junior duo Ozzy Fulgencio and Tyler Nalley lost 0-6, 0-6, while freshmen Max Torres and Ben Hickey also fell 0-6, 0-6. The Hubs’ next action will be at the Rockford Jefferson Invitational.
Frosh/Soph
Rochelle sophomore Emilio Nava played two singles matches for the freshman-sophomore team on Friday, winning his first match over Yorkville’s Luke Deval by a score of 10-6 before falling to Zach Nauman 8-5. The Foxes took all three doubles points, with Briggs Kiempski and John Gruber taking down Hub duo Luis Vasquez and Alexis Quintanilla 10-1 on court No. 1.
Freshmen Parker Hale and James Doering lost to Foxes Austin Fallon and Jake Deval on court No. 2 by a score of 10-2, while freshmen Gabriel Nava and Saul Alanis fell 5-10 to Tim Petersen and Adam Borowik.
