Boys Tennis: Smith brothers, Wheaton North close out DuKane Conference title

Wheaton Warrenville South second, St. Charles North third

ST. CHARLES – Wheaton North’s Bernard and Vaughn Smith always try to give maximum effort on the court.

It was on full display to close the DuKane Conference boys tennis meet on Tuesday at St. Charles North. The junior and freshman brother combination blasted their way to a No. 1 doubles championship victory over Wheaton Warrenville South’s Eli Swanstrom and Zach Morton.

After most points throughout the match, the duo would let out an expressive ‘let’s go’ or another variation of encouragement to catapult them forward.

“...When one of us is feeling a little down, we got to get hype, we got to get active,” said Vaughn Smith, a freshman. “We start with the ‘come ons’, try and get in somebody’s head. It’s a part of our game. Just the ferocity [gets us through].”

Wheaton North captured the DuKane Conference title with 61 total team points. Wheaton Warrenville South (49) and St. Charles North (37.5) rounded out the top three. Batavia trailed in fourth (36), Geneva fifth (29) and Lake Park sixth (26).

“There’s definitely been some ups and downs. There’s definitely been some days where we were feeling a little down [and] we weren’t 100%,” Bernard Vaughn said speaking of their collective season. “We just had to push through it together. You have to feed off of each other and when you don’t, you both don’t do really well...We express ourselves a lot on the court so that’s what keeps us pumping the whole time.

The Smith brothers are in their first season as a doubles team. Bernard Smith played singles as a freshman before his sophomore season was wiped out due to the pandemic.

“I wanted to [play doubles] because I knew he was going to be a freshman,” Bernard Smith said. “We’ve always played doubles for fun, but it’s amazing to be able to play with him.”

Wheaton North’s No. 2 doubles team of Devon Jones and Will Parrilli, both juniors, captured the conference title in their bracket, prevailing over Geneva’s Dylan Lahey and Ryan Cedergren 6-0, 6-2.

“We’ve been friends for a very long time and I always thought we were going to be a great team together. I think, just over the season, we’ve come [closer] and it was a great way to end it with the conference championship,” Parrilli said.

“I think we just really feed off of each other’s energy,” Jones said. “When he’s happy and we’re playing well; I’m [then] playing well [and vice versa] so we can really dominate once we get going.”

Wheaton North also earned conference titles from junior Niku Cowart (No. 1 singles), and David LeRoux and Dylan Wallace (No. 3 doubles).

“It’s the deepest team that I’ve had in a long time top to bottom,” Falcons coach Eric Laird said. “Just to have quality players, tons of tennis backgrounds. But, the attitudes, the efforts, the energy from every single player, from start to finish, [was great]. We won every single conference match. We had a very close one with Wheaton South when we played them head-to-head, but to be able to have the lead in the conference from start to finish [speaks to that].”

“We were in the championship at all seven [events], which speaks to these guys: Their consistency, their tenacity to be able to play that strong all season long,” Laird continued. “In the midst of all of this craziness, to be able to stick with it, we had a two week season last year. So, it’s gratifying for them to be able to come out here, play up to their potential and get the team wins.”

Wheaton Warrenville South’s Paul Choi and Arian Lagarija won titles at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively.

St. Charles North junior Mattas Ciabilis won third place at No. 1 singles after a default by Wheaton South’s Mike Choi. Brady Barnes and Bryce Vander Horn took third at No. 2 doubles for the North Stars.

Batavia’s No. 4 doubles duo, Stuart Murchie and TJ Stras, won their conference title.

“I started playing when I was four and it was with my Dad, so it was a family thing at first,” Ciabilis said.

Ciabilis decided to play tennis exclusively around seventh grade after also balancing swimming. During his freshman season for the North Stars, Ciabilis took fourth at No. 2 singles.

“[Tennis] keeps me calm. It’s something to do. It keeps me active outdoors,” Ciabilis continued. “...I’m pretty aggressive [as a player]. I tend to hit through the ball more than a lot of players. Just that’s my game pretty much.”






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