In what can only be described as an epic match, the St. Christopher’s varsity tennis team defeated St. Stephen's/St. Agnes 5-3 to win their second consecutive state title. In a match filled with great tennis and even greater drama, the players showed wonderful poise and fight throughout the entire contest.

 

SS/SA entered the state tournament as the No. 7 seed, but that was clearly not an adequate indication of its strength as they came out firing in singles.

At No. 6, senior Wil Venitz faced a tremendously consistent opponent, and despite his best efforts, Wil ended up losing. The Saints quickly bounced back as eight-grader Alaister Burke continued his stellar play as of late. Locked in and focused at his No. 5 singles, Alaister was in control from the beginning of the match, and his victory evened the score at 1.

At No. 4, sophomore Alston Hackney fell behind early. He was able to claw his way back into the match, but despite fighting hard, he could not avoid a loss. At No. 1, senior Matthew Fernandez put the finishing touches on an undefeated singles season with a commanding performance. Mixing defense and offense in a masterful way, Matthew knotted the score at 2 apiece.

At No. 2 singles, fellow senior Stephen McCray played an excellent match. In a close contest, it was great to see Stephen play the big points with poise and confidence, which in the end earned him the win and put his team up 3-2. Left on court was junior Jackson Barkstrom, who faced a very talented freshman at No. 3 singles. Jackson’s match will go down in the annals of St. Christopher’s tennis as one of the most dramatic ones ever. Over a span of two and a half hours, both players exhausted themselves in their quest for victory. The match came down to a tiebreak, and both players saved numerous match points before Jackson came up just a little bit short in the end 11-10 (16-14). Despite losing, Jackson should be incredibly proud of his fighting spirit and resiliency.

 

So, with the score tied at three, the teams went into doubles.

Alaister and Wil played one of their best matches of the year, and their focused, aggressive, and passionate play earned their team a 4-3 lead at No. 3 doubles. With both No. 1 and 2 doubles going back and forth, the momentum kept shifting. Eventually, Jackson and Alston were able to pull out a heroic victory at No. 2, which clinched the state title for the boys.

All of the players should be extremely proud of this achievement. Guided by the excellent leadership of Matthew and Stephen, they worked incredibly hard all season, and they are well deserving of the state title. This is a team that will be long remembered in the lore of St. Christopher’s tennis history.