Oak Park and River Forest High School juniors Alex Dolipschi and Eli Stein put forth an impressive showing at the IHSA Class 2A boys tennis state doubles’ tournament, May 23-25, at Palatine, winning four matches.
The duo notched a 6-3, 6-1 victory in the first round over Springfield, followed by a second-round 7-5, 6-0 victory over Maine South. Then, Dolipschi and Stein lost their third-round match 6-7 (4-7 in tiebreaker), 1-6 to Chris Ackerman and Jovan Morales of New Trier.
However, the Huskies’ duo bounced back in the consolation bracket with two consecutive victories: 2-6, 6-3, 10-5 (tiebreaker) over Wheaton North, then 6-4, 3-6, 10-5 over Evanston Township.
Dolipschi and Stein’s run came to a halt in the consolation quarterfinals with a 1-6, 6-7 (5-7) loss to Alex Denizov and Bryce Abban of Glenbrook South. But they accounted for six of OPRF’s eight points, which was good enough for a 15th-place tie in the team standings.
The Huskies’ other two points were provided by junior Manu Rajagopal in singles. He won his opening match 6-1, 6-0 over Ashton Plebanek of Lockport, but dropped the next two matches: 0-6, 0-6 against Hinsdale Central’s Alex Kotarski, then 2-6, 1-6 to Benet Academy’s Patrick Burke.
In Class 1A doubles, Fenwick seniors Matt Bero and Tom Shishman went 1-2, notching a consolation-round victory: 1-6, 6-4, 10-5 (tiebreaker) over Liam Hanson and Devon Oliveria of Woodstock.