Better late than never as Walther pair advance to state

TENNIS -- It was around midseason when Walther Lutheran coach Mark Korntheuer decided to pair up seniors Brian Jackson and Dairon Robinson.

Jackson was playing at No. 2 doubles prior to the lineup switch and Robinson was in the No. 1 spot.

The move could not have turned out better with Jackson and Robinson finishing third Saturday at the Oak Park-River Forest Sectional.

The finish qualified the Walther duo for the state tournament which begins Thursday at several locations in the Arlington Heights area.

No singles player or doubles team from Walther has ever won more than one match at state.

"I didn't have any expectations about making it to state," Jackson said. "I'm so excited about getting there."

The last doubles team to qualify for state from Walther was Anton Thurmond and Dan Korntheuer in 1996.

"We wanted to play together since the beginning of the year," Robinson said. "I thought we would get to this point (state qualifiers)."

"We work well together as a team," Jackson added.

The top-32 singles players and an equal number of doubles teams will be seeded at state. The remaining qualifiers will selected in a blind draw to determine first round pairings.

"It's going to be a different level of tennis," Jackson said. "I still think we can win one match, maybe two."

Walther never advanced a doubles team to state prior to Jackson and Robinson that didn't play at least one match at singles during the season.

"They saw the No. 1 doubles team from Oak Park which looks to be seeded top eight at state," Mark Korntheuer said. "That gave them an idea of what to expect."

Jackson and Robinson, who finished third a week earlier at the Private School League meet, were not expected to advance beyond the sectional after being seeded No. 6.

"I told the kids (before the meet) that sometimes things just fall your way," Mark Korntheuer said. "The bracket could not have been any better if I had picked it myself. It wasn't luck. The kids played well during the season to get the wins and so I could get them seeded."

The opening match wasn't a challenge with Robinson and Jackson, who had a first-round bye, winning 6-0, 6-0 over Jeremy Atwood and Mauricio Flores from Proviso East on Friday.

The win put Robinson and Jackson in the quarterfinal round Saturday with a trip to state on the line.

Jackson and Robinson made it look easy with a 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 4-seeded Mike Maienza and Matt Hipskind of Fenwick.

"I thought it would be closer," Jackson said. "We came out ready."

A taste of what it will be like down the road came in the semifinal round when Jackson and Robinson lost 6-0, 6-1 to top seed and sectional champions Alex Gebert and Jacob Wilson of OPRF.

Robinson and Jackson rebounded with a come-from-behind 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over No. 3-seeded Tyler Kiefer and Rob Hickey of Fenwick in the third place match.

The Walther duo lost to Kiefer and Hickey five days earlier in a dual meet.

"Instead of just trying to hit the ball hard, we placed our shots where they would not get them or be hard to return," Jackson said about the turnaround in the second and third sets.

"We were just going through the motions in the first set," Robinson said. "We concentrated more after that. We realized we had to play better or get beat."

Walther senior Danny Vasser also advanced to state with a fourth-place finish in singles after losing 6-1, 6-1 to Mike Pill of Fenwick.

No singles player from Walther has ever made it to state.

Vasser qualified after a 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 win over Ted Bruce of Fenwick in the quarterfinal round.

Vasser, who was seeded fourth, lost 6-0, 6-1 to second-seeded Devin Jones of OPRF, who went on to finish in second place.