Dukes defeat Willowbrook and Oak Park Country Club.
By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
The York summer tennis team continued play in both the Trident League and the West Suburban Tennis League with four recent matches.
In a recent Trident League contest, the Dukes were 7-5 winners over Willowbrook. York won 4-2 in the 17-and-under division and tied 3-3 in the 15-and-under division. York moved to 3-1 within Trident play with the win.
The number of victories has increased a lot since last year as there has been more rigorous training of the teams and more funding has gone into buying new equipment and paying for better coaches.
A lot of thought went into the equipment and sites like Rackets Rad were used to help make the final decision on which ball machine, for example, would be best for the club.
In the Willowbrook match in Villa Park, Gage Burkhardt was a 9-7 winner at No. 1 singles in the 17s division.
In doubles, Gage Burkhardt and Zoe Burkhardt were 8-1 winners at No. 2 doubles in 17s. Evan Sedlacek and Simon Krukowski were 8-4 winners at No. 4 doubles in 17s. Cara McGovern and Cara Well were 8-4 winners in 17s No. 5 doubles action.
At the 15s level, Sonali Kumar was an 8-4 winner at No. 3 singles. Isabel Brown and Jennifer Howe were 8-3 winners at No. 1 doubles, while Michael Polowsky and Brian Niederman were 8-2 winners at No. 2 doubles.
York also faced the River Forest Tennis Club in West Suburban Tennis League play and lost 12-0 at River Forest Tennis Club. York dropped to 2-2 in West Suburban play.
York also scored a recent 11-3 West Suburban victory over Oak Park Country Club to move to 3-2 in that league and 6-3 overall.
In the match at Oak Park Country Club, in the 17s singles, Aleksina Jovic was a 7-6 (9-7), 6-1 winners at the No. 1 position. Isabella Nicoli was a 6-2, 6-2 winner at No. 2 singles, while Jonathan Nikoleit was a 6-1, 6-2 winner at No. 3 singles.
In 17s doubles, Cate Duhig and Jovic were 6-1, 7-5 winners at No. 1. Nicoli and Nikoleit were 6-1, 6-2 winners at No. 2 doubles, while Lauren Fonorow and Gianna Nikoleit were 6-1, 6-1 winners at No. 3 doubles.
Over in 14s play, Gianna Nikoleit was a 6-1, 6-0 winner at No. 1 singles, while Paul Nicoli was a 6-1, 6-0 winner at No. 4 singles.
14s doubles action saw Paul Nicoli and Krukowski score a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 1 doubles. Morgan Burnham and Keira Polach were 6-3, 6-1 winners at No. 2 doubles. Claire Converse and Maria Chornij were 6-2, 4-6 (11-9) winners at No. 3 doubles.
York concluded play in one of the leagues with a conference tournament this past Friday and was scheduled to finish off its season Wednesday with a second conference tournament.
After the Oak Park match, Krukowski was leading the team with a 6-0 record in summer play. Paul Nicoli was 6-1, while Isabella Nicoli was 5-3. Samantha Kent and Fonorow were both 4-0, while Gianna Nikoleit, Jonathan Nikoleit, Well, Sedlacek and Cara McGovern each were 3-0. Jonna Menendie, Gage Burkhardt and Jovic each were 3-1.
York had 45 players who had at least one summer match under their belt through the Oak Park contest.
