An in-season decision to pair up promising freshman Nolan Pavlik with experienced senior Shay Sweigard paid big dividends for the Lyons boys tennis team.
The two finished third in doubles at the Class 2A state tennis tournament, which concluded May 30 at Palatine.
It was the program’s first top-3 finish since 2019.
Lyons coach Clint Buetikofer said he had a good feeling about pairing these two up.
“Shay has been a great player for four years and I was trying to find the right fit for him and Nolan is a freshman who is really a great player,” he said. “It became clear midway through the season that our best doubles team was Shay and Nolan together.”
The Lions combo won its first four matches as the state meet before losing 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4 to eventual state champions Jayden Dussias and Brennan Plunkett of New Trier.
The Lions rebounded with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Dane Bozic and James Scallan of New Trier.
After they were paired together, the Lions duo first played at the Hersey Invitational and finished fourth.
“I thought we played well against great competition there,” Sweigard said.
Sweigard will be giving up competitive tennis as he heads to Wisconsin to work on an engineering degree.
Pavlik said he has been playing tennis all of his life. His father, Jim, took seventh in the state in doubles in 1991 and singles in 1992.
The team picked up a 5-8 seed before state got rolling and exceeded that prediction.
“There was definitely some pressure, but I was excited to play at state,” Pavlik said.
Sweigard and Pavlik were the only state placers in the area. Brother Rice’s Nathan Miller was the only other area qualifier to win two matches at state.
Marist takes lacrosse sectional
Marist’s girls lacrosse team edged St. Ignatius 8-6 to win its own sectional on May 29.
Marist (15-6) was scheduled to meet the Lincoln-Way co-op team in the Lockport Supersectional on June 2 for a berth in the final four, which begins on June 4 at Hinsdale Central.
The District 230 co-op (15-5-1) lost 15-10 to Lincoln-Way in the O’Fallon Sectional final.
Nazareth (18-4) fell 20-6 to Hinsdale Central in the Maine South Sectional final. Kathleen Hardy had four goals for the Roadrunners.
Hounds rally to stay perfect
The Chicago Hounds (9-0) trailed by as many as 13 points, but stayed perfect with a 33-32 road win over Old Glory D.C. on May 30 in a Major League Rugby game.
Theo Fourie and Mason Flesch each had two tries for Chicago, with Flesch scoring the final two to give the Hounds the lead.
The Hounds visit New England on June 7 for the final regular-season game of the year. They will host an MLR semifinal game June 15 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview and the MLR championship game on June 21 in Bridgeview.
More Fire in Bridgeview
The Chicago Fire finalized its Leagues Cup matches to be played at SeatGeek Stadium.
They will play Club Necaxa at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 6, Club Santos at 7 p.m. on Aug. 9 and Cruz Azul at 8 p.m. Aug. 13.
Fire-y World Cup
Chicago Fire goalie Chris Brady was called up to the U.S. Men’s National Team for the World Cup event this summer.
Fire defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi was named to South Africa’s team. Fellow Fire defender Joel Waterman was called up to play for Canada.