By Luke Nadkarni / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
The Covenant boys tennis team has won five consecutive VISAA state championships, and their road to a sixth began as strong as ever.
The top-seeded Eagles handled visiting Virginia Episcopal by a score of 6-0 in the quarterfinal round of the state tournament, improving their record to 17-1 in the process.
Covenant won all six singles matches, rendering doubles play unnecessary. Kevin Coleman was first off the court for the Eagles, blanking Phillip Head of VES 10-0 at No. 5. Top-seeded Jack Thomas followed soon after, completing a 10-2 win over Nero Cao.
No. 2 William Rose had the toughest match of the day for the Eagles, but he still came out on top by a score of 10-6 over Matt Barrier. Rose’s brother, Matthew, finished shortly after at No. 3, wrapping up a 10-3 win over Dominick Madden.
Covenant clinched the match by virtue of No. 4 Sam Adamson’s 10-1 win over Carl Xiao. The teams agreed to finish out singles play, and at No. 6, Roger Wang completed the sweep by shutting out Clark Lupton 10-0.
Covenant coach Patrick Kearns was pleased with his team’s strong effort. The Eagles will take Wednesday off before returning to the practice court on Thursday to prepare for this weekend’s competition.
“We’ve played a lot of matches,” Kearns said. “Having the day off tomorrow will lead us into Friday and Saturday.”
The Eagles’ semifinal match is against Highland on Friday. Match time at the Collegiate School in Richmond is set for noon.
Covenant 6, Virginia Episcopal 0
Singles
1. Thomas d. Cao 10-2
2. W. Rose d. Barrier 10-6
3. M. Rose d. Madden 10-3
4. Adamson d. Xiao 10-1
5. Coleman d. Head 10-0
6. Wang d. Lupton 10-0
Order of finish: 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6
