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Order Restored: Covenant boys tennis wins state title for first time since 2013

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For six years from 2008 to 2013, Covenant boys tennis was the dominant force in VISAA Division II state tennis. For six-straight state title matches, it was the Eagles who took home the trophy.

 

They’re back.

 

After a three year hiatus, Covenant powered its way back to the top of the heap, winning Saturday’s state title match 5-3 over Norfolk Collegiate.

 

“It was an amazing match,” said Covenant coach John Eberhart. “We split the singles, which was really lucky, Noah did a tremendous job coming back in (No. 2) singles, that really made the difference.”

 

The Eagles appeared to be in trouble late in singles, but Noah Hollis fought back to win his match 11-10 and give Covenant a 3-3 split heading into doubles. That’s when the teams of Bryce Boland and Andrew Carson and Robert Wood and Ben Grant took over. Wood and Grant won 10-7 before Boland and Carson closed out the state title win with a 10-8 victory. The Hollis and Alex Vangelopoulos’ doubles tandem was up 8-3 when

 

In singles, Grant won 10-2 at the No. 6 slot and Carson rolled 10-1 at the No. 3 spot in the ladder, but Hollis had to battle to erase a trio of hard-fought losses in the other spots. He eventually pulled out the win by taking a tiebreaker. That gave the Eagles new life and let some sterling doubles play take over.

 

The win followed a tremendous win in the semifinals that launched them into the championship game. That’s where the Eagles held off Highland in similar fashion, splitting the singles matches before clinching with a pair of victories in doubles to win 5-3.

 

In that match the bottom of the lineup did the heavy lifting with Grant, Wood and Vangelopoulos winning their singles matches before Hollis/Vangelopoulos won 10-1 and Grant/Wood won 10-7 in doubles.

 

Throughout their run to the state title, Covenant’s squad has worn bandanas that say “WIN” on them, honoring Wood’s father who goes by Win and is currently fighting cancer.

 

“Since we put these things on we haven’t lost,” Eberhart said.

 

And the Eagles won’t this season, ending their 2017 with a state title and restoring order in VISAA’s Division II in the process.

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