Blue Valley Northwest takes Class 6A regional tennis title

Blue Valley Northwest senior Brett White could barely wait to land a big kiss on the Huskies’ Kansas Class 6A regional championship plaque.

Of course, part of his excitement came from the fact that he had just won his second straight doubles title moments earlier.

With the scores already favoring the Huskies, he and partner Jonathan Lowe avenged a league tournament loss to BV North’s Carson Fournier and Brady Flanagan and took the title Monday at the College Boulevard Activity Center. The final score was 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

“That’s the goal I’m working toward every single year,” White said. “Being able to defend a regional title felt really good, and hopefully we can do the same at state.”

It was the fourth time this season the two teams had met, with the Huskies taking a 3-1 lead in the overall standings. They improved to 21-5 overall while the Mustangs dropped to 16-9.

“There are a lot of volleys from both sides, so there is good doubles to watch and be a part of,” Huskies coach Ted Fabiano said. “I know they were excited about getting another opportunity to play.”

White and Lowe’s doubles title helped lift the Huskies to a seven-point victory in the team standings as well. BV North finished second behind them in the Eastern Kansas League meet and regional.

Teammates Arvind Raghuraman and Caul Pearson defeated Olathe Northwest’s Andrew Buyle and David Boshma to take fifth and also qualify. Lowe’s twin brother, James, will join them after finishing as runner-up in singles, and Yash Mylavarapu finished fifth.

Olathe Northwest’s No. 1 doubles team Thompson Tong and Cutter Sanderson defeated Blue Valley’s Min Moon and Tyler Elmendorf for third place.

Blue Valley’s Anil Patel added to last week’s EKL title with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Lowe. Patel, who entered as the tournament’s top seed, dropped just seven games in four matches in leading the Tigers to a third-place finish. He improved to 17-3 on the season.

“It is turning out to be a really good year,” Patel said. “I’ve just to keep taking care of the shoulder that has been bugging me and keep up the level of play because obviously it has been working.”

The other singles qualifiers were BV North’s Rohit Bhagat, who defeated Olathe South’s Conner Petty to take third place, and Olathe Northwest’s Taylor Ficke, who was sixth.

The top six singles and doubles finishers will return to the CBAC on Friday to start the two-day Kansas Class 6A state tournament.

This story was originally published May 11, 2015 at 9:37 PM with the headline "Blue Valley Northwest takes Class 6A regional tennis title."