Senior and freshman unlock championship formula with New Trier tennis

The third time is a charm, but no one talks about the tenth.

For New Trier senior Chris Ackerman, the tenth was a champ — just like him.

Coming off a state doubles championship as a junior, Ackerman needed a new partner this season and played with nine other teammates before locking in with Jayden Dussias, the only freshman on the varsity roster.

“After Jayden and I pulled out a tough one in our first match (against a Hinsdale Central duo), I thought we had the resilience and chemistry that it takes to last in the state tournament,” Ackerman said.

The senior’s instincts, backed by the trust of New Trier’s coaching staff, were proven right on Friday-Saturday, May 30-31, when he and Dussias capped off an undefeated IHSA Class 2A tournament with a 7-6 (3), 7-5 victory against Nicholas Marringa and Kyle McCaine, also of Hinsdale Central.

The Trevians duo followed up a chaotic first-set win with a more surgical second-set triumph, winning all six games they served and finally breaking Central’s serve with the set tied at 5-5.

“The first set I felt like we were playing with more desperation, playing from behind. … It was almost like we stole that one,” Ackerman said. “The second set was more in control, more easy holds. The games were a lot quicker and from an intensity standpoint, I thought the teams were more on it.”

Ackerman gave plenty of credit to New Trier coaches Tad Eckert (head coach) and Brent Saltzman for calling for the right in-match adjustments, such as a change to an “Aussie formation,” in which Ackerman and Dussias (serving) lined up on the same side of the court in an effort to disrupt an opponent’s return game.

Aside from game strategy, Dussias said the team’s adversity earlier in the tournament helped them in the final match.

Ackerman and Dussias cruised through their first three matches before overcoming challenges in the quarterfinal (Hersey’s Andrew Weber and Jakub Pasielak) and semifinal (Glenbrook North’s Troy Kaneshiro and Max Manoshin) rounds. The Trevs pair dropped the middle sets in both contests before responding to advance.

“I almost felt like dropping the set to GBN wasn’t a big deal,” Dussias said. “Being down didn’t feel like too much pressure after that match with Hersey.”

Ackerman becomes New Trier’s first two-time doubles champ since Mack Reynolds and Adam Rubenstein won three straight state titles between 2000 and 2002. A four-time state champ, Rubenstein also won with different partners, winning a title with Joe Smeeton in 1999.

Ackerman and Dussias earned 14 of New Trier’s 19 team points, good enough for fourth place overall, a feat the Trevians accomplished with just two state entries. The other, doubles team Casey Fenner and Brennant Plunkett, picked up four wins in the tournament, including three in the backdraw.

Hinsdale Central (34 points) won the tournament for the fourth straight season and sixth time in the past seven tries. New Trier won it in 2021. Conant (26), Hersey (22), New Trier (19), and Glenbrook South and Stevenson (17 apiece) followed in this year’s standings.

New Trier had won a trophy (top-three finish) the previous 10 state tournaments (two firsts, four seconds, four thirds) and also finished fourth in 2013.

Loyola Academy earned seven team points and tied for 16th in the team standings. PJ Barry won three straight matches to start the tournament for the Ramblers, while doubles team Peter Alshouse and Alex Floro collected a backdraw win.

Highland Park also finished with seven points. Blake Gold, a former doubles champion (2023), went 3-2 on the weekend, and Andrew Rosenfeld and Jarrod Cohen won their opening match.

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