​The Bloomington South boys tennis team came into Tuesday’s rivalry match at North knowing each of the singles spots was going to be a tough battle.Which meant a trial by fire was awaiting a couple of first-year varsity players in sophomores Alex Chong and freshman Jonah Gray. Both passed the test in a 5-0 win that was anything but a lopsided blowout.Chong had the honor of clinching the third point, the hard way, with a 6-1, 7-6(4) win over varsity veteran Ben Konisky.”I was really happy with Alex coming out,” South coach Matt Corry said. “He came out real well. One of the things we’ve been working on is finding satisfaction in competing. Because most times we play, we’re not going to feel like we’re playing great. Tennis is a hard sport.”If we can only feel good when we play well, we’re going to miss a lot of opportunities not only to enjoy it but to compete at a high level. That’s been my challenge to him is putting that focus on the belief that he can compete for every point. That was a big time win for him against Ben.”Chong was down 5-4 in the second set, won two games, then saw Konisky knot it at 6. Chong jumped up 4-2 in the tiebreaker and finished.”My coach said, ‘Trust myself,'” Chong said. “I put in the work this summer. If I’m being honest, I probably played more than I should have. I feel like I’ve put in enough hours where I could trust myself. I felt like it really paid off in the tiebreak.”Chong wanted to prepare himself for tough matches with plenty of tournament play in the off-season. Konisky pushed him on a hot day, trying to make him run to the net in the second set, but Chong worked his angles and hung in through the ups and downs.”I tried to focus on playing in a lot of tournaments and I think it helped me manage my emotions,” Chong said. “And my coaches helped me so much throughout the match.”It’s not the first time Chong has been pushed hard this season, remembering a match against Plainfield he rallied to win 3-6, 6-2, (15-13).”I saved five match points,” Chong said. “It really showed I should keep fighting, no matter what.”Later, at 2 singles, Gray finished off the sweep, the hard way, with a bloodied knee, finishing strong with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 win at 3 singles over senior Eric Shinn.”Jonah, one of the things I’ve been extremely happy with him is, at the beginning of the season, he played JV against BNL,” Corry said. “I’ve got a group of guys pretty close skill wise. I just challenged him. I said, ‘You’ve got to prove the team has to have you out there if you’re going to set yourself apart to secure a spot.”So, one of the things he’s done is, he has a great tenacity but also has the ability to be coached and make changes. Tha ability to do that is what this team needs. That was a great response.”At 1 singles, junior Caleb Lian needed two hours to subdue Dev Chopra, 6-3, 6-4.”I knew very well that this could be a loss tonight,” Corry said. “And my players all knew that. They also got a pretty stern talking to when we warme