State tennis titles on the line: Section V competitors include sixth-ranked player in U.S.

Pittsford Sutherland's latest boys tennis team title is special for many reasons.

The unbeaten Knights won their third title in four years. Sutherland, now 18-0, narrowly defeated talented rival Pittsford Mendon 5-2 for the Section V Class A2 championship.

Sutherland's Class A2 crown marked coach Joe Thyroff's latest title with his grandson, Charlie, one of the reasons he left Mendon's boys team after a 17-year run that ended in 2017 in the midst of 58 straight wins. The sectional brick was also coach Thyroff's 24th championship of his career. This was his first undefeated season with Sutherland.

"It felt so good beating (Mendon) this year. They're a good team. I am so proud of them," said coach Thyroff, who has a 545-82 record between his boys and girls Sutherland and Mendon teams since 2001.

While Sutherland will be the only Section V squad competing in next weekend's team state tournament, Geneva junior Drew Fishback won his third individual state qualifiers tournament and will lead the local singles and doubles players into this weekend's individual state tournament. Fishback, the two-time All-Greater Rochester Player of the Year, placed third in the 2023 state tournament and is now one of the country's top tennis players.

"He just continuously tries to perfect his game," Geneva coach Bill Hadsell said.

Sutherland wins Section V for 3rd time in 4 years

Coach Thyroff knew if he improved one of his doubles teams that Sutherland would have a chance at winning sectionals again. They've accomplished that, and recently reached their goal of clinching a spot in the state final four. Sutherland beat A1 champ Fairport 6-1 in the crossover match, then dropped Section VI's Williamsville East (13-1) in the region final 6-1.

Pittsford Sutherland avenged its loss to Mendon in the 2023 final with a win over the Vikings May 18. Sutherland's third doubles duo Aariv Mody and Matthew Xie clinched the match with a 6-7 (7-4), 6-3, 6-1 win over Santosh Raja/Sourish Sau. Second singles player Dylan Bhatia beat Mendon's Ari Roland 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. In a match featuring two of the area's top first singles players, Mendon's Trevor McLaughlin defeated Charie Thryoff 6-2, 6-1.

"I can't tell you how exciting our match with Mendon was. It was close. Especially the last two points," coach Thyroff said.

Thyroff will be inducted into the Rochester Tennis Hall of Fame on June 15. Of Thyroff's 24 section championships, 10 were with the Mendon boys and three with Sutherland's boys. He's coached Sutherland's girls since 2005 and has won 11 titles with them. Now Thyroff is hopeful of a state championship.

"It really brings out the history of Rochester tennis," Thyroff said.

Fishback wins 3rd Section V state qualifier tournament

Geneva junior Drew Fishback has become the sixth-ranked high school tennis player in America, according to the Universal Tennis Ratings system. He defeated Wayne's Evan Phillips in straight sets for the Section V Class B1 singles title, then beat McLaughlin 6-1, 6-0 in the state qualifying singles tournament.

Parents Dawn and Chip Fishback introduced their children to elite tennis training as they raise tennis prodigies. Ryan, the 2019 AGR Player of the Year and state champion, was an all-conference singles player at Virginia Tech this spring. Tucker Fishback, a seventh-grader at Geneva, is a strong doubles player. Drew is so knowledgeable that he offers coach Hadsell advice on ways the team can improve.

"He's like my coach. I learn so much from him, dad and Ryan. He knows the game way better than I do. ... He's very selfless," Hadsell said about Drew Fishback.

Fishback is a highly-skilled lefty who's improved his size and strength. His maturity and confidence is at an all-time high. Fishback advanced to the NYS quarterfinals in 2022 and placed third in 2023. Fishback hasn't lost to a Section V opponent since former Sutherland star Brady Thyroff beat him in the 2021 sectional team tournament.

So what's keeping one of America's top players at Geneva? Hadsell said Fishback "wants to honor Geneva's school." He's committed to soccer in the fall and enjoys being a multi-sport athlete. When rain postponed Geneva's section finals match against Livonia, Fishback was very excited about potentially winning the championship. Livonia ultimately won the match 3-2.

"He really wanted to win. He just wants the team to do well," Hadsell said.

Younger brother Tucker is on the come up. The seventh-grader joined Alex Salter on doubles and played in the state qualifiers. They lost a tiebreaker in the second round to Mendon tandem Hayden Goodchild/Alex Doaga 10-9(9-7). "He was tough. That was a great match. It was unbelievable … Alex played the best he's played," Hadsell said.

NYSPHSAA tournaments

USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing will host both state tournaments over the next two weekends.

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association individual tournament at the USTA National Tennis Center. First round matches begin Friday. Championship matches are Sunday. NYSPHSAA's team tournament begins with the semifinals Friday, June 7. Championships are Saturday, June 8.

Section V tournaments

State qualifiers

Singles: 1. Drew Fishback (Geneva); 2. Trevor McLaughlin (Mendon); 3. AJ Balsamo (Fairport).

Doubles: 1. Dylan Bhatia/Charlie Thyroff (Sutherland); 2. Mandava/Sullivan (Sutherland); Eitan Fay/Arnav Sharma (Brighton); 4. Damian Mesh/Remy McNamara (Hilton).

Individual champions

Class A1: Singles, AJ Balsamo (Fairport); Doubles, Damian Mesh/Remy McNamara (Hilton); Class A2: Singles, Trevor McLaughlin (Mendon); Doubles, Dylan Bhatia/Charlie Thyroff (Sutherland); Class B1: Singles, Drew Fishback (Geneva); Doubles, Jaeuk Shin/Connor Stern (Harley Allendale Columbia); Class B2: Singles, Sean Hogan (East Rochester); Doubles, Dom Patti/Austin Lattuca (Avon); Class B3: Singles, Lorenzo Martelle (Cal-Mum); Doubles, Garrett Thompson/Oliver Johnson (Cal-Mum); Class B4: Singles, Donovan Lincoln (Naples); Doubles, Landon Gleichauf/Matthew Lincoln (Naples).

Team champions

Class A1: Fairport def. Hilton 4-3; Class A2: Sutherland def. Mendon 5-2; Class B1: Livonia def. Geneva 3-2; Class B2: East Rochester def. LeRoy 3-2; Class B3: Caledonia-Mumford def. Oakfield-Alabama 5-0; Class B4: Naples def. Fillmore 4-1 — Naples lost to Section VI Olean in regionals.

Section V's top tennis players, teams

Athletes are listed based on their UTR on May 10.

Players

Drew Fishback (Geneva), Trevor McLaughlin (Mendon), AJ Balsamo (Fairport), Charlie Thyroff (Sutherland), Eitan Fay (Brighton), Dylan Bhatia (Sutherland), Ari Roland (Mendon), Devon Brougher (Fairport), Damian Mesh (Hilton), Arnav Sharma (Brighton), Sathya Mandava (Sutherland), Cormac Sullivan (Sutherland), Jake Sullivan (McQuaid), Alexander Aguilar (Sutherland), Aaron Miller (Canandaigua), Remy McNamara (Hilton), Evan Phillips (Wayne), Finn Whitaker (Mendon), Krishna Rao (Mendon), Warren Huber (Brighton);

Alex Doaga (Mendon), Hayden Goodchild (Mendon), Marcello Popelka (Canandaigua), Thomas Barbato (Victor), Alex Haywood (Honeoye Falls-Lima), Tucker Fishback (Geneva), Jaeuk Shin (HAC), Matt Lincoln (Naples), Connor Stern (HAC), Alan Ratner (Penfield), Mitchell Lau (Sutherland), Noah Mroueh (Sutherland), Oliver Johnson (Cal-Mum), Donovan Lincoln (Naples), Nathan Doll (Cal-Mum), Sebastian Dix (Churchville-Chili), Nathan John (Penfield), Austin Lattuca (Avon), Dom Patti (Avon).

Teams

Class A1: Webster Schroeder, Fairport, Victor, Greece Lightning; Class A2: Sutherland, Mendon, Brighton, McQuaid; Class B1: Livonia, Wayne, Geneva, HF-L;

Class B2: LeRoy, Penn Yan, East Rochester, Avon; Class B3: Cal-Mum, Oakfield-Alabama, Campbell-Savona, Kendall; Class B4: Naples, Fillmore, Wheatland-Chili, Notre Dame.

— Marquel Slaughter is a journalist for the Democrat and Chronicle, specializing in high school sports. He has been a reporter for 15 years. Follow him @MarquelSports and X or on Instagram. You can contact him at mslaughter1@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Drew Fishback, Pittsford Sutherland compete for NY tennis titles