Boys tennis: Sycamore stays perfect in inaugural season with win over DeKalb

SYCAMORE – When practices started in late February, Sycamore boys tennis coach Rob Majerus was teaching his players how to hold a racket.

Fast forward to Wednesday, and the Spartans polished off a sweep of DeKalb to stay perfect in their inaugural season, beating the Barbs 5-0 in a nonconference dual meet.

“I knew we had talent here and I was just very grateful for the opportunity to play and have an official team here. I had pretty high expectations and I’m glad we’re meeting them so far. I’m excited for where this will go.”

—  Jonathan Locascio, Sycamore tennis

“As a coach you’re just really happy to see them succeeding and enjoying the time out here with each other,” Majerus said. “They’re setting goals and trying to take steps toward meeting those goals.”

Coach Brad Bjelk said he did not know his Barbs’ record. According to the team’s Twitter feed, they won Saturday against Rockford Boylan and lost Monday to Rochelle.

“It went well,” Bjelk said. “Just a nice day, out playing tennis.”

Steven Chen beat Ryan Lottes 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, and Regan Ni knocked off Charlie Vanderbleek 6-1, 6-1.

Jacob Plagakis and Joe Culotta stayed perfect at No. 3 doubles, beating Ricky Godinez and Billy Jasso 6-1, 6-0. Alex Jenkin and Josh Plagakis beat Marcos Zaylik and Esteban Cardoso 6-0, 6-1 at No. 2.

And the No. 1 doubles team of Jonathan Locascio and Liam Kerbel beat Jared Trejo and Matthew Williams, 6-0, 6-2. Trejo picked up a singles win against Rochelle on Monday.

“We’ve been doing well throughout the season,” Locascio said. “We have a good group of guys here. Lots of good players. I have a great teammate and we have great teamwork and we’ve been doing pretty well.”

Majerus said he was grateful to the Sycamore athletic department and administration for giving a green light to the sport this year.

Locascio plays recreationally in the Kishwaukee Tennis Association and said he was thrilled when the team was announced.

“It is an amazing feeling. I am so grateful for this opportunity,” Locascio said. “I’ve been pushing for a tennis team since my freshman year, and seeing it come to fruition has been rewarding.”

Although players such as Locascio have experience playing tennis, Majerus said he proceeded slowly as the team was getting started.

“We started with teaching them how to grip the racket and the variety of shots that are needed to be competitive in tennis,” Majerus said. “We were starting from scratch. We were lucky to have some kids that played recreationally, and they bought into what we’re trying to do. They’re hard workers and dedicated to practice. We’ve just been riding this wave and hope it continues as long as it can.”

Now the Spartans (10-0) are undefeated and heading into a showdown Monday at Ottawa, with both teams posting perfect Interstate 8 Conference records so far.

“That’ll be a nice test,” Majerus said. “Then we’ll just keep going. We talk every time we get down about how we have so much more to improve upon. We’re doing good things, but every day in practice we can keep doing better.”

Majerus said the team is handling the success well. Only Jacob Plagakis and Culotta are undefeated this year, and that gives each player or doubles team something to work on.

“Even though we may be finding ways to win, we’re still doing things incorrectly we can focus on,” Majerus said. “I ask the kids on an almost daily basis to be thinking about something they need to improve on and bring that to us the next day.”

Locascio said he knew the team was capable of big things this year.

“I knew we had talent here and I was just very grateful for the opportunity to play and have an official team here,” Locascio said. “I had pretty high expectations and I’m glad we’re meeting them so far. I’m excited for where this will go.”