May 30—SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Priory was as good as advertised.
The Ravens, with last weekend’s singles and doubles state champions in the lineup, added the Class 2 team state championship to its season collection with a 5-0 victory over Thomas Jefferson on Saturday afternoon on the outdoor courts at the Killian Sports Complex.
“We knew they were pretty tough,” Cavaliers coach Tom Brumfield said. “They definitely are deeper than we are. They are one of those teams who have No. 1s all the way down the lineup. There’s nothing easy about it.
“I thought we did great. We wanted to compete as well as we could and not give up. We had a shot at No. 1 doubles right off the bat and could have had a chance to serve for the set, but we missed a point or two that changed it.
“We were ahead at No. 6 singles when we quit. We could have picked up a couple of wins.”
Priory’s Preston Achter-Evan Finnie rallied to win that No. 1 doubles match over Noah Hamlett and Tyler Brouhard 8-6. The Ravens’ Sean Finnie-Christian Djavaherian defeated Ian Ding-Shirhari Nagarajan 8-3 at No. 2 doubles, and John Newell-Peter Khoukaz beat Christopher Wheelen-Prithvi Nagarajan 8-1 at No. 3 doubles.
Achter beat Ding 6-2, 6-1 in the No. 1 singles match. Achter captured the singles state title last year and Ding finished fourth.
Priory (12-1) also won at No. 4 singles when Khoukaz beat Wheelen 6-3, 6-1.
The Cavaliers finished this season with a 15-1 dual record and a second-place trophy from the state tournament.
“This is our first Class 2 trophy,” Brumfield said with a laugh. “There were no losers today. We wanted to compete as far as we could and make them win it. We didn’t give in to them. They had to win it, and we feel comfortable about that. I’m proud of the guys.”