Hard Work and Hardwear

Post date: Apr 20, 2014 12:26:19 AM

With another week of strong conference play behind us (wins over Cary-Grove & Grayslake North), the boys split squads to compete at a JV event in addition to two separate varsity tournaments. It was an uphill battle at the Rolling Meadows JV Invitational, where the boys struggled against some tough competition. Taking game ball honors was Erik Esswein, who picked up a hard-earned singles victory to put Jacobs on the scoreboard. In a six team round-robin varsity event, Jacobs-Brown was good enough for bronze, losing to the host Pretzels and falling in a nail-biter to Belvidere North. Along the way, Kevin Searle outsteadied his opponents for a perfect 5-0 record on the day. At Maine South, the one doubles pair of Matt Toomire and Riley Rowan overcame a difficult draw, upsetting a top-seeded opponent from Loyola in the first round to put Jacobs-Gold in the running for the team title. Great performances were turned in by players throughout the lineup, including a 3rd place finish from Kailash Panchapakesan at first singles and a second-singles championship from the team MVP, Kendrick Chong. Behind a total team effort, Jacobs just edged out York for second-place honors, narrowly trailing team champion Batavia.