From L-R: Jeff Berns, John Flayter, Jon Stauffer, Matt Sargent

The teams from Libertyville and Midtown-Palatine came ready to play. Last year, Libertyville nearly got to the finals but lost in sets despite having a player fall ill before the match and another player injuring himself during the match. And last year, Midtown-Palatine didn’t make it to the playoffs. So both teams were working it for their respective teams. Libertyville took the match lead with Libertyville captain Jeff Berns winning 6-3, 6-2 against Mike Spors (MTP). Then, John Flayer (LIB) came off the court against David Smith (MTP) winning 6-2, 6-2. But they saw their courts 1 and 3 were not doing as well. Kyle Stagnito (MTP) had a 6-3, 6-2 win over Matt Sargent. That left court 1. Robert Bieniek (MTP) and Jon Stauffer (LIB) were finishing off their match while the other players were counting up the games. Robert Bieniek won 6-4, 6-3. Jon Stauffer kept himself on the court despite tweaking his knee in order to get the extra games needed to get a win for Libertyville. Jeff Berns said, “Midtown-Palatine showed up to play and every competitor left it on the court. We were fortunate to come away with the victory by a very narrow margin. We are taking a moment to enjoy the victory and know that each team will be ready to play next year.”