Apache tennis team 7-2 going into conference tournament
By John Baracani
The men’s tennis team takes a 7-2 overall record and a 1-2 conference record at press time heading into the Region IV tournament, which is to be held on April 30 and May 1.
The team is coming off consecutive wins against McHenry, Waubonsee, and Joliet.
On Tuesday, April 20, the Apaches picked up a 9-0 sweep of Joliet, which pleased Coach Bruce Nelson.
"It was real impressive in that everyone got a victory," he said. "That’s good to see."
The team’s two losses have been at the hands of conference rivals DuPage and Harper.
Nelson said that his team has played real well, with the two losses being very close matches.
"We’ve lost a couple that could have gone our way," Nelson said. "We were real close with Harper."
The coach said that he looks to the team’s top 4 players; Rob Vignali, Scott Grabowski, Dan Kotecki, and Chad Zielinski to get singles victories, but is happy with the play of the fifth and sixth players; Travis Klein and Nathan Tolley, who he says are new to the sport.
Nelson said he sees no weaknesses in his team.
"All the players have played to their capabilities so far this year," he said. "It’s as strong as I’ve seen us."
The season ends with the regionals, which includes IVCC and the other four teams in the conference; DuPage, Harper, Joliet, and Rock Valley.
The scores of the meets and the conference tournaments are compiled to determine the winner of the conference.
Nelson believes that his team will finish third in the conference this season, behind DuPage and Harper, who are in first and second place, respectively, at press time.
"I almost guarantee that DuPage will win the conference," he said.
"It’s between Harper, Rock Valley, and us to fight for second place."
The Apache April 29, 1999