St. Paul's Tennis Notebook

By: Luke Jackson

The St. Paul's boys tennis team finished 8-3 in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference and in a tie for third in the conference in the regular season.

The Crusaders' losses came against Friends and perennial league powers McDonogh and Gilman. The 3-2 loss to Friends April 17 ended up depending on which team won the third set No. 1 doubles, which the Crusaders lost, 7-6, despite having match point opportunities.

"[No. 1 doubles] was a great match, fun to watch, with both teams playing at high level throughout the third set," said St. Paul's coach Edward Brown. "As I told my kids after the match, we didn't lose that match; [Friends] won it.

"One of [Friends' No. 1 doubles] players hit two huge topspin, offensive lobs in the tiebreaker [in the third set]," said Brown. "Both should have been back breakers -- both gave Friends match points -- but we held off those match points."

Gilman and McDonogh's presence in the MIAA A Conference -- the two teams have won 20 out of the last 21 MIAA/Maryland Scholastic Association titles -- makes it difficult for any other team to come out on top, but the league may be becoming more balanced.

"[The A Conference] is more competitive this year than it's ever been in my eight years," said Brown.

But Brown is confident that his team can overtake Gilman and McDonogh in the playoffs.

"Clearly, Gilman and McDonogh are the class of the league," said Brown. "We match up better against Gilman. I believe we can beat either team [in the playoffs], but it won't be easy. They are clearly better than us."

"We're a roller coaster type team, but if everyone shows up, we could surprise one of them," said Brown. "[But] we have to get past our first round opponent."

Brown calls Anand Parikh, St. Paul's No. 2 singles player, his "most consistent player." Parikh, who has lost just twice in the conference, had one of his biggest wins of the season against Calvert Hall's No. 2 singles player. Parikh's victory was vital to Crusaders' defeat of the Cardinals, 3-2, and signaled how the middle of the conference is very close together.

"The victory over Calvert Hall shows how tight three through eight or so are in this league," said Brown. "Seven and eight are capable of beating a three seed."

St. Paul's went 1-5 out of the conference, with losses to Haverford and Episcopal Academy, the two best teams in Philadelphia, and St. Alban's and Georgetown Prep, two good teams in the Washington area.

Posted May 13, 2008