ROCHELLE — Rochelle Hub standout Mark Green was patient when necessary and aggressive at the right moments during his second-round varsity singles match against Kaneland Knights netter A.J. Faruga at the IHSA 1A Rochelle Sectional tennis tournament on Friday afternoon.

Green surged ahead early in the match, scoring multiple break points and using strong forehand shots to secure the opening set in dominant fashion. The talented junior faced a slight deficit late in the second set, however, as Faruga used effective loft shots to force errors and fight his way back into the match. With a ticket to the IHSA State Championship on the line, Green found himself trailing 5-3 and one game away from returning to the court for a winner-take-all third set.

“I just had to play smart,” Green said. “The big hits weren’t working, so I had to be patient and play safe. I was staying consistent early in the match and I wasn’t getting angry with myself. I had to focus on not going to the net as much and only going to the net when it mattered.”

Showing patience and avoiding unforced errors, Green came through with clutch points down the stretch, evening the set at 5-5 before dominating the final two sets to win the match 6-2, 7-5 and secure his spot in the state tournament. With the victory, Green became Rochelle’s first boy to qualify for state in singles since Noah Griffith advanced three years in a row from 2016-18.

“It’s a great feeling and it’s a very rewarding way to end the year,” said Green, who opened his sectional tournament run with a 6-4, 6-3 win against IMSA’s Richard Chen in the first round. “It means everything to me, especially since I’m a junior and I have one more year… It’s a great confidence builder and I think I can build on this for next year and just keep going.”

The No. 4 seed in the sectional tournament, Green is Rochelle’s first state qualifier on the boys side since David Wanner and Owen Haas made it in doubles during the 2023 season. The junior returned to action for the medal rounds on Saturday morning, falling 1-6, 0-6 against Marmion’s Benedict Graft before bowing out with a 3-6, 2-6 loss against IMSA’s Chad Park. The state tournament will be held at Palatine High School and surrounding area courts May 29-31. 

“The determination he’s had from day one… He wanted to be the No. 1 singles player and he wanted the challenge,” head coach Kristy Eckardt said. “He knew he could do it and it’s been incredible to watch. He played a kid in the first round who could’ve been seeded and we didn’t know anything about him, so there were some unknowns coming in, but he played his game and took care of business… I’m so proud of him. No one deserves it more than Mark.”

Rochelle tied for fourth out of eight schools with four points in the sectional meet. Junior Philip Winters faced Aurora Central Catholic’s Andrew Hipp in the first round of singles play, falling 5-7, 1-6 against the No. 3 seeded player. Junior Caleb Mortensen and sophomore Sam Sergeant competed as one of two Rochelle doubles teams, falling 1-6, 0-6 against Marmion’s Owen Cousins and Jack Sitar in the first round. Sophomore Noah McKinney and freshman David Eckardt fell 2-6, 4-6 against Kaneland’s Owen Schlipp and Sohum Kadam in round one.

While Green will continue on at state, the sectional tournament was the final team competition of the 2025 season for the Hubs, who ended the spring with an 8-9 overall record and a 1-4 record in the Interstate 8 Conference. Rochelle fared well in tournaments this season, taking second at the Rock Island Invitational, second at the Hubs Dubs Invitational and third in the Hub Varsity Invitational. The Hubs took fourth at the Interstate 8 Varsity Championships as well.

“It’s the third-best season I’ve had as a coach,” Eckardt said. “We have everyone on our varsity team coming back and I'm really proud of the attitude and effort that our group showed. Our kids showed more competitiveness and they were able to battle and compete against tough teams.”

Green (26-13, 19-11 singles, 7-2 doubles) and Winters (22-10, 15-8 singles, 7-2 doubles) are among a large cast of players who took on varsity roles in 2025. Juniors Parker Slattengren (9-10, 0-1 singles, 9-9 doubles) and Caleb Mortensen (8-22, 1-5 singles, 7-17 doubles) each concluded the season as varsity starters, while sophomores including Sergeant (10-19, 1-4 singles, 9-15 doubles) and McKinney (13-15, 0-1 singles, 13-14 doubles) were big contributors as well. David Eckardt (16-18, 1-4 singles, 15-14 doubles) played varsity tennis as a freshman.

“We’re going to have our eyes on the conference title and the conference tournament and I think we can send several people to state next year,” Kristy Eckardt said. “I think we’ll be good to go. It’s all about time on the court and experience. The more our kids play tennis, the better they’ll be. Putting in the time during the summer and trusting themselves will both be important.”

Sophomores Amor Lara (10-8, 2-3 singles, 8-5 doubles) and Connor Hunley (2-15, 0-3 singles, 2-13 doubles) are two more underclassmen who could return in varsity roles next season. Rochelle went 7-5 in nonconference matches this season, earning wins over Streator, Dixon, Princeton, Mendota, Rockford Christian, Harlem and Belvidere. The Hubs, who picked up their lone conference win against Kaneland, ended the regular season ranked fifth in the Interstate 8.