CAMBRIDGE – Not solely did the Lexington ladies tennis crew win their second consecutive state tennis title, however the boys crew additionally put the that means of “clean sweep” to relaxation as effectively.
Lexington (25-0) completed off an unbelievable unblemished run to the finals with a 5-0 shutout over Division 1 juggernaut Brookline moments after the women picked up their state title on the identical duPont Tennis Courts on the campus of MIT.
The Warriors (23-1) have been additionally unbeaten coming into the competition and have been winners of three of the final 4 state titles, solely dropping to Acton-Boxboro in 2022 with no recorded winner in 2020 through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Joel McCandless was a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Deven Devaiah in No. 1 singles play, whereas Arindam Bagga made simple work of Peter Khudyakov, 6-3, 6-3. But it was No. 2 Rudr Malayya who held courtroom in a 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 thriller over Dhevin Nahata to assist Lexington seize their first state tennis title since 2014.
In doubles, Aahan Mehra and Rohan Reddy have been victorious in a 7-5, 6-3 straight set win over Ravin Bhatia and Kiran Bhatia whereas Naveen Kothandaraman and Gavin Ohler sweated out a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 win over Owen Eskey and Jacob Kapusta to finish the startling five-match rout.
“Not expected, not at all. Expected 3-2 one way or the other, a dogfight. Our team had more seniors, maybe the experience pulled them through – couldn’t tell you – we knew some positions we had a chance of winning and others we had a chance of losing but to see the outcome that happened? I don’t know where that came from,” mentioned Lexington head coach, Chris Pugalise. “(Malayya) is our only freshman and he was kind of a huge part of this. I knew (Malayya) was going to start but I couldn’t tell you where but he battled for his position.”
The remainder of the starters have been seniors this magical season for Pugalise and none extra particular than McCandless, who’s headed to Rhode Island College within the fall to play for the Anchormen.
The Warriors had overwhelmed the Minutemen in both the North Sectionals or the State bracket the previous three tries and in reality, McCandless was enjoying for extra than simply himself in his match. The “Brookline problem” as Pugalise jokingly referred to the Warriors was a stickler for fairly a while for McCandless and his household.
His sister, Kyra, already picked up her personal state title belt with their victory moments earlier than over Lincoln-Sudbury, however McCandless pointed to the household lineage, particularly his brother Kyle, who’s at present enjoying tennis at Cal Tech, as motivation to drag down the state chip.
“I was playing for a lot of people today. My father (Michael) and my grandfather (Victor Zue) came out on Father’s Day to watch me play. My brother, for several years and the hardest worker I’ve ever seen, didn’t get a shot at a state championship so I was playing for him to take one home,” mentioned McCandless as his brother preceded him and the one yr they might have crossed paths was erased within the pandemic season. “One of us has been on the team for the past seven years with one as the COVID year and would have been our cross-over year. So this is big for us and I truly feel this is a win for the both of us.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com