This weekend's state tournament in suburban Chicago marks the end of an era for the Belleville West boys tennis team.
Seniors Max McLean, James Stathis, Scott Segobiano and Blake Hollenbeck will cap their prep careers after another impressive performance at last weekend's Belleville West Sectional.
On Saturday, Stathis and Segobiano won the doubles title, McLean placed first in singles and Hollenbeck finished third in singles as the Maroons won their fourth straight sectional championship. Five days earlier, the Maroons won the Southwestern Conference tournament.
"I really appreciate what those guys have done for our program," said West coach Andy Brunner. "Of the 18 guys on our team, the top nine are seniors, so it's a pretty special group."
McLean, who won his second straight sectional title without losing a game, will attend Murray State University on a tennis scholarship and will play for coach Mel Purcell. a former top-20 player on the pro circuit.
"I'm really excited - Mel is a great coach and I love the campus," McLean said. "I know he's going to take my tennis to the next level."
McLean's father, Scott, is a West graduate and a former tennis standout at the University of Kansas.
"My dad is a big reason why I'm in this situation now," McLean said. "We hit a lot of balls during the summer and that helps me get better.
"We have similar styles, but apparently he had a better backhand than me. He claims he was a better player, but that's how it works."
Stathis and Segobiano looked sharp in winning their second consecutive sectional championship.
"It's funny because you kind of get used to them winning," Brunner said. "They have that tenacity and that winning attitude. They've been fun to coach the past few years."
Segobiano is a four-time state qualifier in doubles and this will be his third appearance with Stathis. They won three matches in the championship bracket as sophomores and as juniors they won their first four matches and picked up another win in the consolation bracket.
"James and I are pretty similar - we're hard-working and intense," said Segobiano, who also played soccer at West. "I've known him my whole life, so that helps. He his hurt his wrist pretty bad (before the season) and he was out for a while, but once he was healthy, we got the chemistry back.
"We're pretty happy with the season, but there are still some things we need to finish at state. We're hoping for at least the top five."
Segobiano considered playing college tennis, but decided to focus on academics. He will attend Parkland College in Champaign under a cooperative program with the University of Illinois and transfer to U of I as a junior. He plans to major in business.
Like Segobiano, Stathis hopes that his final appearance at state will be his best.
"Every year we've gone up to state, we've gotten a round farther, but every time we set a goal and then achieve it, we kind of let down in the next round," Stathis said. "Hopefully this year if we set our goal to reach the round and get there, we won't be satisfied.
"We know each other's games better than anybody and what shots we're going to hit. We're really good at positioning together on the court - there's no open spot for (opponents) to hit a winner."
Stathis will attend the University of South Carolina, but won't play on the tennis team.
"I might play intramurals, but their team is probably too good for me, to be honest," said Stathis, who plans to major in international business with a minor in Chinese.
Hollenbeck, meanwhile, played No. 4 singles during the regular season and played doubles with McLean.
"My volleys and my serves have gotten a lot better," Hollenbeck said. "I worked on that a lot during the offseason."
"The first couple weeks of the season, Max and James were both out (with injuries), so it was pretty tough without them. But for the most part, it's been about what we expected."
This will be the third state appearance for Hollenbeck, who qualified in singles as a sophomore and in doubles with Jake Hoercher as a junior. His goal this year is to win at least one match in the championship bracket.
"Team-wise, we got ninth place last year, so we'd like to do at least one place better than that," said Hollenbeck, who will attend Butler University.
