Boys Tennis: Glenbrook South wins upset-laden Downers South Invite

Updated: April 21, 2012 6:14PM



It was not a good day for the previously undefeateds at the Downers Grove South Tennis Invitational. Glenbrook South came away with the championship but a singles player and a doubles team with previously unblemished records went down to defeat in the finals.

‘‘It feels surreal right now,’’ Downers South doubles player Connor Harman said. ‘‘I’m just shaking right now.’’

Harmon and his partner Cody Frieschlag took on Glenbrook South’s Mike Sellitto and Mike Levin in the final No. 1 doubles match and handed the Titans duo their first loss of the season 6-1, 2-6, (10-8) in a tie-breaker. Levin and Sellitto came into the match with a 21-0 record. Frieschlag and Harmon improved to 23-2.

‘‘We just wanted to play without thinking,’’ Frieschlag said. ‘‘(Harmon) hit a brilliant lob when were down 8-6 in the tie-breaker that changed the whole momentum around for us. ‘’

Glenbrook South came away with a 3-2 victory in matches played. The deciding match saw No. 2 doubles players Luke McCanna and Will Lyon win it for the Titans with a 6-3, 0-6, (10-3) tie-breaker victory over Kiernan Cavanaugh and Ryan McMillan.

In the No. 1 singles match, Glenbrook South’s Sam Hoogland handed Downers South’s Joey Leto (23-1) his first loss of the season. Hoogland (9-1) is normally the No. 2 singles player behind Konrad Zieba, who missed the match with an illness. Hoogland consistently hit some incredible passing shots down the line that Leto had no chance to return.

‘‘I didn’t play that badly today,’’ Leto said. ‘‘He just played really well.’’

‘‘That’s a really good win,’’ Hoogland said. ‘‘I knew this was going to be a tough match. But everything was working today. I was in a zone out there.’’

In his previous two matches against Wheaton Warrenville South and Edwardsville, neither opponent was able to scratch out a game against Hoogland who won 29 consecutive games before Leto broke through.

‘‘That might be the best that I ever saw Sam play,’’ Glenbrook South coach Larry Faulkner said.``It was a really good match all-around today.’’

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