ROCHELLE — Entering No. 1 singles competition as the No. 6 seed didn’t discourage Mark Green from pulling off an early upset and securing All-Conference recognition as the Rochelle Hub tennis team hosted the Interstate 8 Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon.

Facing Ottawa’s Ayden Sexton in the first round, Green pushed through a highly contested opening set, securing a crucial tiebreaker to take the early lead. Green carried the momentum over to the second set, where the talented junior minimized mistakes and applied pressure on the serve to secure a 7-6(6), 6-3 win over Sexton, the No. 3 seed in the No. 1 singles bracket.

“It brings me a lot of confidence,” Green said. “I know that I can do it and I know that I can be successful at No. 1 singles. I just had to stay calm through the ups and downs and not get into my own head. I focused on staying consistent and forcing him to make the mistakes.”

The win moved Green into the semifinals, where he battled LaSalle-Peru’s Nick Olivero in a rigorous three-set match that saw both players capture crucial points. Like his first match, Green was able to take a tiebreaker to win the opening set, but a strong second set from Olvero took the match into a third and final set. With a spot in the championship on the line, Green fell just short of reaching the finals, conceding a 7-6(7), 2-6, 5-7 loss to move into the third-place match.

Looking to close out his conference tournament with a victory, Green dominated the opening set against Kaneland’s AJ Faruga, the No. 5 seed. Despite a brief rally from Faruga in the second set, Green emerged victorious, winning 6-1, 6-4 to clinch the third-place medal as well as an All-Conference Honorable Mention. Green is Rochelle’s only All-Conference player this year.

“It was great because I was down after the loss, but finishing with a win is a good feeling going into sectionals,” Green said. “I feel like our team is hitting our stride at the right moment.”

Green led the Hubs (7-9, 1-4 Interstate 8) to fourth place out of six schools with 13 points in the conference tournament. Junior Philip Winters finished fourth at No. 2 singles, conceding a tough three-set loss against Morris netter Andrew Ochoa 6-2, 2-6, 1-6 before falling 4-6, 0-6 against Sycamore’s Luke Curtis in the third-place match. Rochelle will host Belvidere for nonconference action on Monday before holding the IHSA 1A Rochelle Sectional on Friday and Saturday.

Sophomore Noah McKinney and freshman David Eckardt took fourth at No. 2 doubles, going 1-2 over three matches. The Hub duo opened the tournament with a 6-0, 6-2 victory against Kaneland’s Luke Pawlak and Liam Wolff in the first round. McKinney and Eckardt went three sets against the top seed in their division, falling 6-2, 2-6, 1-6 against LaSalle-Peru’s Riley Cetwinski and Jackson Sellett. In a marathon match for third place in the division, McKinney and Eckardt fell just short in a 3-6, 7-6(4), 4-6 loss against Sycamore’s Sam Eich and Logan Person.

Junior Parker Slattengren and sophomore Amor Lara finished fifth at No. 3 doubles, going 1-1 over two matches. The Rochelle duo bounced back from a three-set defeat and showed tremendous grit in their fifth-place match, outlasting Kaneland’s Zeke Howard and Michael Glick for a 7-5, 3-6, 11-9 victory. Slattengren and Lara played six total sets on Saturday, opening the tournament with a 1-6, 6-2, 5-7 loss against Ottawa’s Charlie Thiry and Caden Walter.

Sophomores Sam Sergeant and Connor Hunley placed sixth at No. 1 doubles, finishing 0-2 over two matches. The Hubs conceded a 1-6, 0-6 loss against Ottawa’s Noah Gross and Evan Krafft before going toe-to-toe with Kaneland’s Owen Schlipp and Sohum Kadam in the fifth-place match, falling just short in a 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-10 defeat.