Wednesday was a successful Senior Night for the Rochelle Hub varsity tennis team, which honored its five seniors before facing the Harlem Huskies in nonconference play.
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ROCHELLE — Wednesday was a successful Senior Night for the Rochelle Hub varsity tennis team, which honored its five seniors before facing the Harlem Huskies in nonconference play.
After scoring a road win over Dixon on Tuesday, Rochelle returned home on Wednesday and continued rounding into form with the Interstate 8 Conference tournament and the IHSA 1A Sectional around the corner. The Hubs swept both singles matches while taking two of the three doubles matches to secure a 4-1 win over the Huskies. Rochelle celebrated five seniors including Jimmy Chavez, Parker Lenkaitis, Alex McBride, Eli Luxton and Austin Raleigh.
“It’s rare to have a kid in any sport for all four years, so having both Jimmy and Parker here to lay the groundwork for what we started has been great,” head coach Kristy Eckardt said. “Both of them have been leaders. Alex has been a solid returning player and both Austin and Eli have been a pleasant surprise this year… We’re starting to peak when we need to and we’ve played some really good tennis over the last few meets. We’re ready to show what we’re made of.”
Rochelle (5-8, 1-4 Interstate 8) took a 1-0 lead over Harlem after sophomore Philip Winters took the No. 2 singles match against Gerardo Valadez, dropping only one game in a 6-0, 6-1 win. The Hubs claimed their first doubles points soon after, with Luxton and Raleigh defeating Avery Coyle and Connar Edwards 6-1, 6-4 in the No. 3 doubles match to put Rochelle ahead 2-0.
“Senior Day was a day I had been looking forward to since my freshman year,” Chavez said. “I would always get emotional seeing all of the guys I looked up to have their Senior Days, so it meant a lot to win because I’ve been in this program for all four years of high school and I’ve given my all to this program... We had a rough start to the season, but that doesn’t matter anymore and we’re at full form now. We’re excited for sectionals and I know we can handle it.”
Chavez clinched the team win for the Hubs, beating Luka Miljanic 6-3, 6-3 in the No. 1 singles match and giving the Hubs a 3-0 lead over the Huskies. Rochelle’s final win came in a competitive No. 1 doubles match, where senior Parker Lenkaitis and sophomore Mark Green overcame a second-set loss to beat Ayden Mabrey and Shawn Austin 6-4, 2-6, 10-4.
“I’ve put in a lot of hard work over the last four years and it feels great to be playing well at the end of the season, especially with conference and sectionals coming up,” Lenkatis said. “We’re starting to clean up a lot of our mistakes and we’re playing much more consistent tennis, which is a good thing… The older guys have helped the new guys a lot. We have a young team and we’re hoping that the younger guys come back out for the tennis team next year.”
Harlem avoided the shutout with a win in the No. 2 doubles match, where Rochelle senior Alex McBride and sophomore Caleb Mortensen played a close first set in a 5-7, 2-6 loss against Sora Anucauskas and Lucas Santos. The Hubs will host Mendota for a nonconference match on Monday before traveling for a nonconference road match against IMSA on Tuesday evening.
