Stories

Make it Six

Impending bad weather forced the VISAA Division 2 boys tennis championships inside, but Covenant couldn’t have been more at home.

With a roster loaded with players who grew up playing their tennis at the Boar’s Head, the alternate site Saturday evening, the Eagles were in great shape.

“This is really their home court so they’ve spent a lot of time here growing up,” said Covenant coach Patrick Kearns. “The opportunity to play indoors at Boar’s Head was obviously good for us.”

It showed as the Eagles rolled to a 5-1 victory over North Cross to secure the program’s sixth-straight Division 2 title.

The move to the Boar’s Head from Collegiate’s campus in Richmond pushed the start time back from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., but the Eagles were unfazed. Matthew Rose cruised at No. 3 and was first off the court with a 10-3 victory. After a narrow loss at No. 2 by William Rose, the Eagles bounced back with a victory at No. 1 by Jack Thomas. Thomas had to fight for an 11-10 win over Joe Cartledge.

With just three courts available at the Boar’s Head, the match kept moving along, but it took a little while for Kevin Coleman to get started and snag a 10-0 win at No. 5 and then Sam Adamson to grab a 10-6 win at No. 4. Then it was up to Roger Wang to prevent Covenant from needing a win in doubles to secure the title.

“The opportunity to have him playing sixth is a godsend,” Kearns said. “He wins a lot of quick matches for us.”

Wang proved up to the tasking, rolling 10-0 to wrap up the title.

“I can play maybe higher but this year is my first year in America and I don’t really mind what position I play,” Wang said.

The Eagles took things a step further this season while securing the Division II title, proving up to the task of going toe-to-toe with some of the state’s best Division I squads like Woodberry Forest (7-2 Covenant win) and Collegiate (5-1 Covenant win). They also beat traditional public school power Western Albemarle to complete a fantastic season. It’s a particularly astounding campaign because the Eagles are heavy on sophomores and juniors, returning the bulk of their roster next year to hunt for title No. 7.

“With our lineup we can matchup with anyone in the state, Division 1 or Division 2,” Kearns said. “We wanted to win the league and win the state championship but the other (goal) was to get the wins against Collegiate and Woodberry which we did.”

Covenant 5, North Cross 1

VISAA Division II Championship

Singles

No. 1 Jack Thomas d. Joe Cartledge 11-10

No. 2 Michael Fleming (NC) d. William Rose 10-6 Loss

No. 3 Matthew Rose d. Aiden Davy 10-3

No. 4 Sam Adamson d. Miguel Gomez 10-6

No. 5 Kevin Coleman d. Nisbent Jha 10-0

No. 6 Roger Wang d. Zander Theoharris 10-0 (clinched)

Doubles

No. 1 Jack Thomas/Matthew Rose d.  Joe Cartledge/Miguel Gomez 8-6

No. 2 William Rose/Sam Adamson d. Michael Fleming/Aiden Davy 8-5

No. 3 Kevin Coleman/ Will Thomas d. Nisbent Jha/Zander Theoharris 8-4

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