ROCHELLE — The Hubs varsity tennis team battled the Harlem Huskies Monday afternoon in Rochelle’s annual Senior Night match, with lone senior Bryan Garcia receiving recognition after the match from head coach Kristy Eckardt as well as gifts and a signed poster from his teammates.

Garcia and the Hubs fought hard to end the regular season with a victory, but the Huskies finished on top, winning by a score of 4-1. Junior Noah Griffith locked down Rochelle’s only point, defeating Harlem senior Joe Procopio in No. 1 singles by a score of 6-1, 6-0 to end his season with a record of 23-2.

Junior Kevin Zheng took the court for Rochelle in No. 2 singles, falling 2-6, 1-6 to Harlem junior Dejan Ubiparipovic. With the match tied 1-1, the attention shifted over to the doubles courts, where Garcia and sophomore Juan Montemayor took on Harlem seniors Josiah Wolf and Marty Schwebke at No. 1 doubles. The senior Hub did his best, but the Huskies won the match by a score of 6-2, 6-4.

Rochelle sophomores Hector Garcia and Chris Jones faced Harlem sophomores Lucas Crane and Anthony Buffington in No. 2 doubles, with the purple and white falling to the orange and black by a score of 3-6, 2-6. Hub juniors Ozzy Fulgencio and Tyler Nalley nearly rallied back to defeat Harlem’s No. 3 doubles combo of junior Anciphas Piparpinyopons, losing their first set 0-6 and narrowly dropping their second set 6(0)-7.

The team loss ends Rochelle’s regular season with a record of 5-12. The boys will begin the IHSA Class 1A Sectional at Rochelle Township High School on Friday.

Fresh/Soph

Sophomore Emilio Nava and freshman Max Torres each scored singles victories in Rochelle’s 3-2 loss to Harlem. Nava won his match 8-1, while Torres cruised to an 8-0 victory.