Rams' Granger punches ticket to state

BOYS TENNIS-- Mitch Granger had no intention of letting Jon Donnowitz end his state dreams for a second straight year.

Granger, a Grayslake Central sophomore, turned the tables on the Warren senior to earn a spot in the weekend's IHSA state tournament.

"Jon and I were in the qualifying match last year (at sectional) and he beat me 6-3 in the third set," Granger recalled.

The 2009 sectional featured a different outcome. During Friday's quarterfinal action at Lakes, Granger punched his state ticket with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Donnowitz.

"I was a little tentative in the first set," Granger admitted. "We had a game plan, and I was trying too hard to hit the game plan perfectly."

Donnowitz built a 4-1 lead in the opening set. Granger fought back to tie it at 4-4 before dropping the next two games.

Granger felt the momentum shift late in that opening set.

"I was playing loosely and playing to win," Granger noted. "My serve got better in the second set, and I came up with some big serves in the third set."

Once Granger grabbed a 2-0 lead in the third set, there was no turning back.

"By no means was he quitting," Granger said. "But when I got up 2-0, I wanted to finish it out."

Granger advanced to Saturday's final by beating Lake Forest's Peter Wolniak. Granger led 4-3 in the first set when Wolniak defaulted due to injury. His title bid came to a close when Lake Forest's Sam Winkler squeezed out a 6-4, 6-4 victory.

"(Winkler) is a very good player," Granger said. "I was up 4-2 in the first set, but I started to get tired. I couldn't play the long rallies, so I started trying to end the points quickly."

Granger was ecstatic to qualify for the big show.

"I believe I should have made it last year," he said. "To make it this year is a great feeling."

Granger can't wait to compete in the upcoming 2009 state meet, hosted by Hersey, with action to be held throughout the Northwest Suburbs.

"I'm hoping to win a few matches," he said. "I want to make myself known, and make a statement that I'll be there for the next three years."

Team Effort: The Rams finished tied for second as a team with 20 points, matching Warren's total.

"We had a great sectional," said Central coach Chuck Lawson. "Everybody on the team won a match, and the second-place finish was great."

Roy Pienaar had a solid run in singles. He won his first match before falling to defending IHSA state champion Denis Bogatov of Warren in the quarterfinals. Bogatov defaulted his final two matches to attend graduation ceremonies at Warren on Saturday.

The Rams' doubles teams of Sterling Douglass/Dan Cho and Chris Sedlacko/Tommy Wolfe each picked up a victory before falling in the quarterfinal round.

Grayslake North scored four points in the Lakes Sectional to finish sixth.