Georgiades, Levitin may join for state run

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A year ago, the Buffalo Grove boys tennis team finished second in the 12-team Mid-Suburban League. Still, no Bison singles player or doubles team advanced to state from the competitive Stevenson Sectional.

This spring, Buffalo Grove has been assigned to the Highland Park Sectional, which will take place May 17-18. That will allow the Bison to avoid Stevenson and Fremd, but top-notch programs like Highland Park, Deerfield and Palatine will still present plenty of challenges.

With that in mind, Bison coach Kevin Schrammel said he has been contemplating making a significant lineup change in an effort to give his team the best chance of being represented at the state meet (May 23-25).

At Saturday’s Buffalo Grove Invite, BG’s two most accomplished singles players — sophomore Anton Levitin and junior Peter Georgiades — played doubles together for only the second time in their high school careers.

The pair finished fifth, losing to a team from Palatine but bouncing back to defeat squads from St. Viator and Sandburg. It was a solid performance, and perhaps a preview of what’s to come this postseason.

“We’re looking at the best options for the sectional (lineup). We do not have to make a decision now. We’ll have to wait,” Schrammel said when asked about the long-term potential of a Levitin/Georgiades partnership. “We’ll have to look at the sectional and how we stack up versus other teams’ probable lineups, and what is best for our chances to qualify for state.”

Levitin and Georgiades are on board with the idea of playing together. In fact, both said they discussed the possibility last season after they played one match together at an invite at Niles West.

“I feel like (playing doubles) gives us the best chance to make state,” Georgiades said. “I feel like it will be a good experience, and if it does work out, we can do it next year again. We can learn from this season for next season, as well.”

There are, however, some factors complicating the proposed partnership. The health of Levitin is the big one.

The sophomore, who played No. 1 singles last season and was expected to fill that role again, tweaked his back during an indoor running drill early in preseason practice. The pain has lingered, and Levitin had missed nearly a month prior to Saturday’s tournament. Thrice-weekly trips to the chiropractor have eased some of the pain, but Levitin said he’s nowhere near full fitness.

“I would say I’m maybe 60 or 70 percent, and hopefully I’ll be 95 to 100 percent when I get back,” said Levitin, who tried out his back Saturday but on Sunday said his next proposed return date was in “a week or so.”

That, of course, would give the fledgling doubles team very little time to play competitively before MSL and sectional play.

Georgiades, who recently missed a week with strep throat, said he is optimistic about the partnership’s chances to flourish next month. However, he remains concerned about his teammate’s health.

“I feel like we are going to work out everything and slowly progress, and by sectionals, we can hopefully make it to state,” he said. “But we really haven’t played a lot together, or played a lot. I had strep, and with his back, we have not had a lot of playing time. Now, we’re just focusing on (Levitin) getting better. Then we can play more.”

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