It was the same two teams in the 5A Divison I boys state tennis final Tuesday, and Phoenix Brophy made it the same result.
For the second straight year the Broncos downed Tempe Corona del Sol to win the championship.
This time it was a little easier and Brophy beat the Aztecs, 5-2, at Glendale’s Paseo Tennis Center. Last year’s title match went the distance before the Broncos won, 5-4.
"Our team is so deep," Brophy coach Bill Woods said. "Sometimes our No. 5 player is as good as our No. 2. Our No. 4 and No. 5 players are going to be playing college tennis next year."
The Broncos’ No. 3 doubles team of Chris Lefky and Chris Salvatore clinched the title with a 10-0 victory over Corona del Sol’s Ryan Wanta and Thaminda Edirisooriya.
For Woods, this championship was not a surprise. The Broncos had played virtually every quality team during the regular season.
“We played the toughest teams in Phoenix and then Salpointe so we saw everybody,” Woods said. “I knew we were as good as any team out there.”
It was the Broncos’ depth that led to Tuesday’s victory and the 15th state title in school history. Only the Brophy swim team has won more championships than the tennis team.
The match of the day came at No. 1 singles where Corona del Sol’s Alex Lawson was trying get a victory and get his team to the doubles portion of the day. Lawson did that by winning a final-set tiebreaker over Lorenz Laurel.
Both players had match points in the tiebreaker and Laurel had to play while his legs were cramping, but he still managed to keep playing.
“It was just an awesome match,” Woods said. “Lorenz had to play through some cramps and then we had to call for a trainer.”
Despite losing at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, Brophy led 4-2 heading into the doubles thanks to victories by sophomore Nolan Bauer, senior Eric Chalmers, Lefky and freshman Kyle Chalmers.
It was also a repeat performance in the 5A-I girls title match with Tucson Salpointe downing Phoenix Xavier to earn its second-straight state title and fourth in the last five years.
The Lancers got key victories in the first four singles matches with Courtney Amos, Lauren Amos, Marena McGeorge and Nicole Whinery winning their matches.
Xavier was attempting to win its 15th state title and first since 2003. The Gators will have to wait another year as they have now finished second in three of the last four years.
