Boys Tennis: Jared and Aron Hiltzik step down from New Trier’s team

Updated: May 5, 2012 6:55PM

Jared and Aron Hiltzik, who were the No. 1 and No. 2 singles players for top-ranked New Trier, have decided to leave the team and concentrate on their private tennis lessons and tournaments. The brothers are both ranked as blue-chip players by tennisrecruiting.net. Jared is ranked as the top senior and player in Illinois and Aron is ranked as the No. 2 sophomore in the state.

According to Jared, he and his brother both missed a practice on Saturday to attend the Illinois/Michigan tennis match in the Big 10 championships. Jared is committed to playing at Illinois next fall.

‘‘Coach (Tad Eckert) promised me some privileges early in the year to deal with my tournament schedule as well as my practice-hitting schedule,’’ Jared said. ‘‘He revoked those privileges on Monday as well as hold me (and my brother) out of a match (against Glenbrook South). He came up with new team rules and that [weren’t] working. As well as high school tennis, he wants to be the No. 2 priority behind academics. In all honesty it is not. This is not my No. 2 priority. Private lessons and tournament are my No. 2 priority.’’

Many top-ranked players in the area forego playing for their high school tennis team to concentrate on private lessons and U.S.T.A. tournaments. Having the Hiltziks play at New Trier gave the Trevians a very strong lineup. For his part, Eckert would not comment on the any of the events surrounding the Hiltziks’ departure.

‘‘We’d love to have them on board but we have some pretty capable players still playing at New Trier,’’ Eckert said. ‘‘We beat Glenbrook South, [which] was previously undefeated. So, we got a good performance from some new guys right out of the gate. It was (the Hiltziks') decision. Nobody has to play high school tennis.’’

Jared was undefeated in over 20 matches this season and was the favorite for the singles state championship after finishing second last year.

‘‘I really will miss playing with my teammates,’’ Jared said. ‘‘I still see those guys every day and they are my friends.’’

New Trier will play No. 2 Hinsdale Central this upcoming Wednesday in a match that should provide a good test for the new Trevians lineup, which has been evolving throughout the season.

‘‘Our team goals haven’t changed,’’ Eckert said. ‘‘We have the deepest team in the state. The lineup changes throughout the season.

‘‘I reference back to last year when we paired up Drew Campbell and Tom Fawcett starting at the conference tournament. They ended up getting second in the state in the doubles. So we certainly have time to get the right pieces in place here.’’

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