(Inji Kang’19/Media)

The CA Boys Tennis team had a solid week, splitting a pair of matches against tough opponents and putting on an impressive performance in sectionals. 

On Monday, May 8, the Vikings fell to a tough St. Charles squad at home, 3-2. Despite the loss, CA played well and remained confident, heading into its season finale.

The next day, Academy traveled to Hilliard Bradley to take on the Jaguars. The Vikes dominated, closing out the regular season with a 4-1 win. The boys looked to carry this momentum into sectionals a couple of days later.

On Thursday, May 11, CA hosted the sectional tournament, marking the beginning of postseason play. Senior Sid Menon, sophomore Drew Haffer, and freshman Rhian Seneviratne all competed for the Vikings in the singles bracket. 

Seneviratne won his first two matches before losing to the #1 seed, Connor Biernat of Wellington in the quarterfinals. Both Menon and Haffer, however, successfully made it through to the semifinals. In the doubles bracket, the team of seniors Austin Lawrence and Eric Min and the team of senior Michael Qi and sophomore Suriya Sundaram both breezed into the semifinals.

The semifinals were held on Saturday, May 13. On the singles side, Menon and Haffer each dropped their semifinal matchup, falling to 2 tough opponents. CA had more success in the doubles bracket. Both Academy teams won their seminfinal matchup, so the championship featured the 2 Vikings pairs. Lawrence and Min topped Qi and Sundaram, 6-4, 6-3.

Lawrence, Min, Menon, Qi, Haffer, and Sundaram will all compete in the district singles tournament on Thursday, May 18 at home. 

The Vikes must first handle business as a team the day before against Bexley, with a ticket to the state team tournament on the line.