Perfection is something all teams strive for, but few achieve. The 1999 Salem Wildcats tennis team under the direction of Coach John Thomas is in that elite group.
The school record for wins in a season set by the 1998 team did not last long as many of the same faces established a new mark one year later with a perfect 31-0 record that included the program’s first-ever North Egypt Conference championship as well as a second straight sectional crown.

Eight of Salem’s regular season wins were matches where the Wildcats did not lose a game. They won five additional matches where they dropped just one game. Their closest margin of victory in any regular season match was 7-2 and that happened only three times. Along the way Salem won the Teutopolis Doubles Tournament and the Carmi Quad Doubles Tournament with a perfect 4-0 record.

Salem’s dominance carried over into the NEC Tournament where the Wildcats did not lose any rounds in any position in both singles and doubles and at the sectional where they qualified six players in four positions for the state tournament

David Dice qualified for state in singles and won his first-round match against Nick Buscaglia of Hinsdale Central 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, but lost to Glenbrook North’s Jeremy Edelson in round two 6-1, 6-1. That setback sent Dice to the consolation bracket, but an injury early in his match against Rock Island Alleman’s Mike Bollsert forced Dice to retire.

Marc Snyder also qualified for state in singles, but lost in the first round to Dane Schmidgall of Peoria Richwoods 6-1, 6-2 and to John Cincola of Rock Island Alleman 6-0, 6-1 in the consolation bracket.

Justin Henke and Alex Bryant advanced to state in doubles where they lost a first-round match to Blake Warner and Rob Tamillo of Mt. Prospect 6-2, 6-2. That setback sent Henke and Bryant to the consolation round where they were eliminated by Jason Winslow and Chris Rakers of Belleville East 6-3, 6-3.

Micah Puricelli and Phillip Squibb also earned a trip to state in doubles where they fell in the first round to Mitch Clark and Tim Taylor of Lake Forest 6-1, 6-2. They were eliminated by Chris Compton and Bryan Rotunno of Warrenville South 6-1, 6-2 in the consolation bracket.
Dice received the squad’s Most Valuable Player Award for the season, while Tyson Stein was named Most Improved.

Salem established a new school record for wins in a season with a record of 27-4. Two of those losses came to Olney, which had an undefeated regular season. One of those setbacks to Olney came at the North Egypt Conference Tournament where the Wildcats finished second. Alex Bryant won the NEC singles championship at the No. 5 position, while Bryant and Justin Henke won the NEC Doubles title at No. 2. Salem’s other defeats came at the hands of Teutopolis and Charleston. During its regular season run the Wildcats posted a perfect 3-0 record as it won the Carmi Quad Doubles Tournament. The Wildcats did not lose a game in three of their wins and lost just once in four of their victories.

Salem achieved its other piece of history when it edged Highland 14-13 for its first-ever sectional championship in boys’ tennis. Six Wildcats qualified for state as Aaron Duke and Rob Marsh advanced in singles, while the doubles teams of David Dice and Marc Snyder along with Bryant and Henke also qualified.

Duke lost in the first round at state of Jason Bock of Ottawa 6-1, 6-1 and was eliminated in the first round of the consolation bracket by Blake Schneider of Belleville East 6-0, 6-1.
Marsh fell in the first round at state to Anand Patel of Hoffman Estates 6-1, 6-1 and was eliminated in the first round of the consolation bracket by Jack Carey of Champaign Central 6-2, 6-4.

Dice and Snyder lost their first-round match at state to John Dumpys and Adam Koren of Oak Park 6-0, 6-2 and were eliminated in the consolation bracket first round by Brian Flood and Evan Dixon of Champaign Central 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4).

Bryant and Henke lost in the first round at state to Justin Conley and T.J. Schaeffer of Belleville East 6-1, 6-1 and were eliminated in the consolation bracket with a 6-2, 6-1 loss to Aurora West’s duo of Casey Hartman and Avaneesh Marwaha.

Marsh received the team’s Most Valuable Player Award, while Snyder was named Most Improved.

There is much to support this:

• He is the first tennis player to be elected in the SCHS Sports Hall of Fame.
• Bob has won more singles matches than any player in Salem history.
• He was the North Egyptian Conference Singles Champion in 1979 & 1981.
• In 1979 Plaschke and his double partner Mic Martin won the IHSA district meet and
  advanced to the state meet. In 1981 Plaschke and Jay Henke won the IHSA district and advanced
  to the state meet.
• He lettered in tennis all four years at SCHS under coach Bill Morgan.
• Bob was a member of the 1981 Junior Davis Cup Team.
• He was rated the #1 tennis player in Southern Illinois for those 16 & under and then again for those 18 & under.
• He also played tennis for Northwestern University his freshman year there.

Bob started playing tennis at an early age in Louisville, KY. His father Grover was one of his first tennis teachers and he credits the support and encouragement of his dad and his mother Mary for getting him started in the sport.

After graduating from SCHS, Rob received his undergraduate degree in computer engineering from Northwestern. He then earned an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago.

Bob currently lives in Menio Park, CA and has recently served as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Sutter Hill Ventures focusing on wireless investments. Prior to that, he was the Senior Vice-President of Worldwide Client Services at Info Space. At Info Space, he was responsible for the implementation of wireless data solutions for the company’s group of carriers. During his tenure there, he was responsible for bringing eighteen wireless operators online across the globe. Before joining Info Space, Bob was the CFO and VP of Business Development for Prio, a wireless and wire-line promotion infrastructure company.