Marquette’s Hubert Allen is the No. 2 singles seed in the Jacksonville IHSA Class 1A Sectional Tournament. The start of the tourney has been moved up from Friday to Thursday because of the threat of rain on Friday. Plans are to still play the finals on Saturday as scheduled.
Kaylin St. Peters/For The Telegraph
JACKSONVILLE – Area boys tennis teams have their eyes on grabbing some postseason hardware this weekend in Jacksonville.
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Marquette Catholic, Bunker Hill and Jersey are entered in the IHSA Jacksonville Class 1A Sectional Tournament, which was set to get under way Friday. However, because of a rainy weather forecast, officials have elected to start the tournament Thursday at 1 p.m. Play will take place at Illinois College and at the Jacksonville YMCA.
“The sectional will now be starting Thursday instead of Friday due to rain concerns,” Marquette coach Nathan Joehl said. “The finals will still be n Saturday, like normal.”
At stake in the sectional will be doubles and singles berths at the IHSA Class 1A Boys State Tennis Tournament. The state tourney will begin next Thursday, May 28 and run through Saturday, May 30 in suburban Chicago. Palatine High School is serving as the host for the state tourney, with action taking place there as well as at other suburban locations.
The top four finishers in singles and doubles at the sectional will advance to the state tourney.
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The Explorers head into the postseason after one of their most successful regular seasons. They went 15-1 in dual matches and captured the championship of the Chatham Glenwood Invitational.
“Going into the sectional, I feel good with where our team is at with their play,” Joehl said. “I’m confident that our guys will leave everything out on the court for this tournament.”
Marquette’s Hubert Allen drew the No. 2 singles seed and teammate Ryan Joehl is seeded No. 6. In doubles, Marquette’s team of Logan Anderson and Oliver Stevenson are seeded No. 6. The Explorers’ Daniel Bennett are Chase Pruitt are also entered
Jersey’s Michael Roberts and Paul Slusser are the No. 5 doubles seed. The Panthers’ Decker and Diamond are also entered. Jersey singles entries are Noah Borowski and Ethan Edwards.
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Bunker Hill, which co-ops with Staunton for boys tennis, set a school record for most dual match wins this season.
Besides Marquette, B-Hill and Jersey, other teams assigned to the Jacksonville Sectional include Chatham Glenwood, Hillsboro, Jacksonville, Macomb, Mendon Unity and Quincy Notre Dame.
In singles, Marquette’s Allen will face West Lybarger of Bunker Hill in the first round. Ryan Joehl will open against Owen Kennedy of Macomb. Bunker Hill’s Jaxon Bennet will face Will Yeske of Hillsboro.
Jersey’s Borowski is scheduled to face Jayden Glaue of Macomb in the opening round. Teammate Edwards will face No. 4 seed Cole Nebel of Macomb.
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In doubles, Marquette’s Anderson and Stevenson will open sectional play against Daniel Dyer and Cael Willer of Quincy Notre Dame. Bennett and Pruitt will face top-seeded Talha Arshad and Aarav Patel of Glenwood.
Jersey’s Roberts and Slusser will open against Hillsboro’s Hempkin and Lanter. Decker and Diamond will play Carson Dugger and Ben Manar of Bunker Hill. The Minutemen’s other doubles team, Elijah Combs and Sam Devall will play No. 4 seed Colin Knollhoff and Tristin Northrup of Jacksonville.
Nathan Joehl said the goal for his Marquette team is simple – advance.
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“The goal is to get at least one player/pair through to the state tournament. There will be tough teams and players throughout the draw, but I hopeful that our team will have a good showing.”