Shklyar paces Deerfield state qualifiers

Kevin Friend (left) and Tyler Borzak team up in doubles play during sectional action at Highland Park. They took third place to advance to the IHSA state meet.
(Buzz Orr/Staff Photographer)

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BOYS TENNIS -- When Ben Shklyar heads to the IHSA state tournament, the Deerfield High School sophomore hopes to have all weapons at his disposal.

Shklyar qualified for the Big Dance by claiming second in Saturday's Highland Park Sectional. He breezed into the final, but dropped a 6-2, 6-3 decision to Mundelein standout Alex Golovin.

Shklyar battled to a 2-2 tie in the opening set, but Golovin used a pair of service breaks to take control of the match.

"I tried to keep it close," Shklyar offered.

His efforts were slowed by a sore left wrist.

"I sprained my tendons," Shklyar said. "I'll get a cortisone shot. Hopefully, I'll be 100 percent for state."

Golovin controlled the action with a big serve and big forehand. He also attacked Shklyar's backhand whenever possible.

"Alex played well," Shklyar said. "He did what he had to do. He attacked my backhand (weakened by the injury)."

While the pair train at the same club, they had never met in competition.

"Hopefully, I'll get a rematch at state," Shklyar said.

If it happens, Warriors coach Josh Leighton hopes his player takes a different road.

"We needed to get it to (Golovin's) backhand a little more," Leighton noted. "When we got it to his forehand, he was able to rip it."

Look for Shklyar to bring a similar mentality to the state meet.

"Ben needs to step into the court," Leighton said. "He needs to hit more balls inside the baseline instead of behind the baseline. And he needs to use his big forehand to his advantage."

Shklyar agreed with his coach's assessment.

"One of the things I'm working on is taking the ball earlier and attacking," he said. "If I can do that and serve well, I think I'll have a good state tournament."

In the sectional semifinals, Shklyar posted a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Highland Park's Danny Greenhill.

"Ben played a good match against Greenhill," Leighton noted.

Shklyar and Brown were rewarded by the seeding committee for their standout seasons. Both singles players earned 9-16 seeds.

In doubles, Friend and Borzak were given a 17-32 seed.

Four Score: Deerfield will send four entries to state. Freshman Jason Brown advanced in singles by winning a pair of matches on Friday. Brown (fourth place) had to default both Saturday matches because of a family commitment in New York.

"Jason will be ready to go (at state)," the coach said.

Deerfield's doubles teams wound up facing each other for third place. The team of Kevin Friend/Tyler Borzak beat classmates Sam Gnesin/Noah Boton 6-2, 7-5.

The Warriors managed to survive without top doubles player Matt Lieberman. He suffered a broken wrist prior to the conference meet.

"Sometimes, things like that happen at the most inopportune time," Leighton said. "Matt has been a good leader for us."

Highland Park (21 points) won the sectional title, and Deerfield (19) was second in the eight-team event.