Mayo boys tennis team headed back to its usual place -- state

May 17—LAKEVILLE, Minn. — That was the Mayo boys tennis team at its best.

That's saying something, as the Spartans entered Friday's Section 1, Class 2A semifinals and final at Lakeville South High School with a 14-1 record and ranked second in the state.

But Mayo coach Jeff Demaray saw what he saw.

"That's the best we've played all year," said Demaray, whose team blew out No. 5 seed John Marshall 7-0 in the semifinals and then beat No. 2 seed Lakeville North by the same score in the championship. "That's the goal, to be peaking at the end of the year."

The Spartans dropped just one set in their two duals combined Friday, that at No. 2 singles against North where Ian Li emerged a hard-fought 7-5, 4-6, 12-10 winner.

Mayo now advances to the state team tournament for the fourth straight year and the 20th time under the direction of Demaray. Last season, Mayo ended its season in the state championship where it lost 5-2 to Wayzata.

Those two teams are favored to match up again in the June 4-5 state tournament at the University of Minnesota's Baseline Tennis Center. Wayzata is ranked No. 1, Mayo No. 2.

When it comes to his team, Demaray was quick to hand the credit where he says it's deserved. He tipped his cap to his players and their parents, the latter having devoted so many resources to making this Mayo tennis program a consistent power.

"I feel great for our players," Demaray said. "They have invested so much into their tennis. And I can't thank their parents enough for taking their kids to tournaments in the off-season and signing them up for lessons and various camps. We have an incredible tennis family at Mayo."

Demaray saw Friday's robust wins as a collective effort. He said everybody wearing Mayo colors played well and pointed particularly to his doubles teams. Daniel Meunier and Blake Thackery won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles against North, Max Rivera and Sam Pickering won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2, and David Teng and John Trygstad won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3.

"Our doubles teams did a great job of closing at the net," Demaray said. "We won an awful lot of points at the net today."

Thackery, a senior who has vaulted up from the junior varsity a year ago to No. 1 doubles now, said Friday was a thrill.

Doing it with this bunch of guys, that's the special part.

"Today was lots of fun," Thackery said. "We are a family at Mayo. We practice year-round together, and we go to tournaments together. We are always prepared."

—Lakeville North earned the right to play Mayo by beating Century in the semifinals, 6-1.

SEMIFINALS

Mayo 7, John Marshall 0

Singles: Tej Bhagra (M) def. Arjuin Khurana 6-0, 6-0; Ian Li (M) def. Zach Moos 6-1, 6-0; Noah Wisniewski (M) def. Braden Duchateau 6-0, 6-0; Caleb Kennel (M) def. Brandon Tasson 6-1, 6-0. Doubles: Daniel Meunier/Blake Thackeray (M) def. Trever Nikolai/Josh Hansen 6-2, 6-0; Max Rivera/Sam Pickering (M) def. Nate Nigbur/Collin Daly 6-1, 6-0; David Teng/John Trygstad (M) def. Zach Brue/Ben Hull 6-1, 6-2.

Lakeville North 6, Century 1

Singles: Anthony Scheglowski (LN) def. Karthik Anand 6-1, 6-1; Kade Bishop (LN) def. Rowan Johnson 6-0, 6-0; Reid Bishop (LN) def. Riwaj Gurung 6-0, 6-0; Ezra Mahoney (LN) def. Josh Wang 6-1, 6-0. Doubles: Arihann Ayyanar/Jason Zheng (C) def. Isaac Blommel/Seth Brezinski (LN) def. 2-0, 2-0 default; Austin Siefken/Sawyer Ondricek (LN) def. Matthew Moua/Alex Cao 6-1, 6-2; Preton Craig/Garrett Siefken (LN) def. Derrick Leng/Vikram Manivannan 2-0, 2-0 default.

FINAL

Mayo 7, Lakeville North 0

Singles: Bhagra (M) def. Scheglowski 6-1, 6-3; Li (M) def. K. Bishop 7-5, 4-6, 12-10; Wisniewski (M) def. R. Bishop 6-2, 6-4; Kennel (M) def. Mahoney 6-1, 6-2. Doubles: Meunier/Thackeray (M) def. Blommel/Brezinski 6-2, 6-0; Rivera/Pickering (M) def. A. Siefken/Ondricek 6-0, 6-0; Teng/Trygstad (M) def. Craig/G. Siefken 6-1, 6-1.