At LHS, there are countless amounts of sports that have star talents riddled about them. Sports of all varieties, ranging from swimming to golf to football, have athletes that light up the court or field almost every time they go out and compete. Tennis, a sport that does not get as much attention around the school as other major sports, has one of those prime talents: Senior Ben VanDixhorn, playing number-one singles at the varsity level since his freshman year, has made quite the imprint throughout his high school tennis career and looks to keep it going after Libertyville.

After his senior season with the Wildcats, VanDixhorn will be headed to Northwestern University on scholarship to play tennis. Being the athlete he is, VanDixhorn grew up playing sports besides tennis, such as  baseball and basketball. VanDixhorn excelled in those sports; he was on travel teams for baseball and JCats for basketball. However, around eighth grade, he began to get more serious with tennis and quit the other sports.

“With tennis, you can’t play other sports if you are going to get really serious about it. You got to play every day. It’s one of those sports you have to put a lot of time into,” stated VanDixhorn.

VanDixhorn’s dad has his own tennis club — College Park Athletic Club in Deerfield — where VanDixhorn first got into the game at a very young age. He regularly practices two to three hours a day, six days a week at College Park. Trying to better himself as much as possible, Vandixhorn also tries his best during the high school season to still practice.

“Probably sophomore year is when I got the idea that I could play the game in college, and junior year I started looking at some schools,” stated VanDixhorn.

In December 2013 at Winter Nationals in Scottsdale, Arizona,  VanDixhorn had a great showing in front of college coaches, which drew him a considerable amount of attention for colleges to scout him. The schools that he visited were Northwestern, Notre Dame, and Illinois, but he knew that Northwestern was his place.

“The coaches [at Northwestern] are really nice but also want to win so they’re intense, which I want. There are also only 10 guys on the team [as] opposed to other teams that have about 16 people. The academics are great and I love the campus,” noted VanDixhorn.

In his junior season, VanDixhorn qualified for State at Hersey High School, where he finished in seventh place. VanDixhorn also attended State his freshman and sophomore years for the Cats.

Last year resulted in one of VanDixhorn’s most memorable matchups of his high school career.

“Conference finals last year, I lost in a three-hour match to the number-one kid from Lake Forest (Brice Polender),” VanDixhorn said. “He had beaten me pretty badly before but that match showed me that I can do this.”

After being defeated again by Polender at the State quarterfinals, VanDixhorn came back this year with a vengeance, defeating Polender 6-1, 6-1 earlier this month  to rectify some of the pain from last year’s losses.

VanDixhorn has had great teammates as well as coaches that have lead him towards success. One of those coaches is head LHS tennis coach, Mr. Dan Kiernan. Kiernan is not a part of the LHS staff, but he has played a positive role in VanDixhorn’s tennis growth.

“Ben is a left-handed athlete with height, is determined, and has the resources to obtain skills needed to play division one,” Coach Kiernan stated.

Coach Kiernan also believes that last year is when VanDixhorn made a big jump, but he has improved every year. The coach stated that VanDixhorn has beefed up and is serving bigger.

Coach Kiernan knew from the beginning of VanDixhorn’s high school career that he would keep getting better and improving each and every day.

Coachability is a term often used in regards to athletes, and according to Mr. Kiernan, VanDixhorn is nothing short of it, as well as being a great teammate on and off the court.

“His best traits are being coachable, his passion for the game, and his team. He is very disciplined,” Coach Kiernan said. He also went on to state that VanDixhorn’s work ethic is second to none, as he is already training like a professional player, which will make him very successful in the future.

On the court, Coach Kiernan believes that VanDixhorn’s serve has gotten better every year, in addition to his strong backhand and forehand.

“His ability to dictate play [from his serve] and end points has been an area of improvement,” stated Kiernan.

As VanDixhorn finishes his senior season, he most looks forward to the team aspect of college tennis and the raised level of competitiveness. As of March, Northwestern’s men’s tennis team ranked 26th in the nation, according to College Tennis Online.

A teammate of VanDixhorn’s, who, like Coach Kiernan has been impressed with the Northwestern-bound senior, is senior Hao Chen.

“He holds himself to a high standard on court and that doesn’t let up when he’s off the court,” commented Chen.

Another one of VanDixhorn’s current teammates is junior Scott Daluga. The two have known each other for almost four years. Daluga has had the opportunity to play with VanDixhorn in practice and learn how he plays.

“I have played against him and he plays very smart, and doesn’t give you any free points. His best traits are his methodical play style and experience,” Daluga noted.

Daluga, a part of the doubles team and State qualifier his freshman year, believes that VanDixhorn will do well in college because he is a hard worker and doesn’t complain.

“Ben has been a huge help to me, by giving me tips and by being really supportive, which makes me believe in myself more,” stated Daluga.

Unfortunately, VanDixhorn has been dealing with a back injury this year. This setback has caused VanDixhorn to miss out on several matches and tournaments.

The Wildcats boys tennis team will compete at conference from May 14-16. VanDixhorn, along with another singles teammate and the Cats’ top two doubles team, will compete in the IHSA sectionals on May 23, and he will look finish his LHS tennis career at state the following week.