Little could stop the Kentridge High boys tennis team or Kentwood High star Max Manthou last week during the South Puget Sound League tournament at Kent-Meridian High.
The Chargers were slowed by a virus that hit many members of the team Thursday afternoon, though Kentridge still went on to win the tournament with 32 points, just ahead of the 29 points posted by Jefferson and well in front of third-place Puyallup (18).
“We barely made it,” said Kentridge coach Bob Armstrong.
Manthou, however, didn’t barely make it. The Kentwood senior who will play at the University of Washington next year did what he has done since stepping onto the court as a freshman — he won. Manthou knocked off longtime friendly rival Matt Overland of Kentridge in the finals (6-2, 6-2) in what was a rematch of last year’s state championship.
Needless to say, Manthou didn’t change a thing about his approach to playing Overland once again.
“Got to go with what works,” said Manthou, a three-time state champion.
It was Manthou’s fourth straight league championship.
While there was little doubt to what Manthou was going to accomplish, the Chargers, though the favorites and North Division champs, left Jefferson an opportunity late into the tournament. The primary reason Kentridge wasn’t able to pull away sooner was because Paul Yi, the team’s standout No. 2 singles player, fell ill on Thursday afternoon and was unable to finish the tournament.
“He just couldn’t move and had to default,” Armstrong said of Yi’s expected match for third place against Jefferson’s Joe Lee.
Kentridge’s Vineeth Omkaram, who doubles with teammate Garrett Ballou, also battled flu-like symptoms. Omkaram, however, pulled it together long enough to join Ballou in a 6-4, 7-6 (7) championship win over Puyallup’s Michael and Brian Pinkard.
The top eight finishers in the singles and doubles portion of the tournament punched tickets to the West Central District tournament, which will be held at Sprinker Recreation Center in May. Kentridge advanced its top singles player (Overland), its No. 2 singles player (Yi), No. 1 doubles team (Omkaram and Ballou) and its No. 2 doubles team (Sahil Diwan and Vincent Lin) to the district tournament.
Along with Manthou, Kentwood’s No. 1 doubles team of Tucker Siegert and Alex Noyes also will move on to district. Siegert and Noyes nabbed fourth place from the league tournament. Taylor Welch, Kentlake’s No. 1 singles player, took fifth and was the lone Falcon to advance to next spring’s tournament.
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