On Saturday, May 19, the boy’s varsity tennis team played at sectionals. The team placed first out of eight teams.

The boys were favored to win and qualify everyone for the state championship. The only players who endured tough matches were Joseph Daw, junior and Ansh Shah, freshman.

“The atmosphere on the first day is tense [because] there are the must-win matches that we have to win in order to make it to state,” said Andrew Buhelos, junior and varsity player. “There were eight teams, and we played well.”

To prepare for sectionals, the boys practiced every day after school at the Burns Park Varsity Fields.

“Sectionals were good, we had a little bit of a tough match against Benet in the semifinals, but we pulled it out in the [end],” Daw said. “I don’t really do much to prepare for big meets except drink a lot of water.”

Many schools are playing at State; the Red Devils will be playing in the 1A state tournament.  

“To prepare for sectionals we did a lot of fitness because we wanted to be in shape because it is our second most important high school tournament,” said Danny Schmelka, freshman and varsity member. “Our team is really hoping to win State this year, we have a really strong team, and between the six of us we only have four losses in Illinois, so we think our chances are pretty good.”

The state meet will be taking place from Thursday, May 31 to Saturday, June 2 at Hersey High School in Arlington Heights.