RHSM, Waterford share title

Perennial favorites Rowland Hall and Waterford came out on top of a fierce three-way clash with Manti Saturday at the 1A/2A state tennis tournament.

Just like they did at region last week, the Winged Lions and the Ravens tied for first place, in the process bumping the south region's Templars, the leader after the semifinals, to third.

Heading into the finals, the Templars were in control of the outcome. With finalists in four of the five events, more than Waterford or Rowland Hall, Manti needed to win at least any two of the four crucial matches to win the state championship outright, or any one match to tie for first place.

They couldn't do it.

Instead, Waterford and Rowland Hall won the events they were supposed to, and battled hard to grab wins in the other matches to secure the win.

"I can't believe how much composure they showed," Rowland Hall head coach Tim Sleeper said, talking about his players. "You can't teach that."

In first singles, as expected, Waterford senior Calvin Bennett won his fourth straight title, defeating Manti's Jared Te'o 6-0, 6-0. Bennett is headed to Yale next year to play tennis and "learn a lot."

"I was a little nervous in the first set," Bennett said. "Then I settled in and did what I always do."

In second singles, Waterford's Daniel Reichert beat Rowland Hall's Daniel Livsey 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 to repeat as state champion, while in first doubles Waterford's Chris Chang and Andrew Munoz-Butterfield defeated Manti's Kent Ogden and Blake Wheeler to complete the triumvirate of crucial wins for the Ravens.

Chang started out the year as Waterford's third singles player but switched to first doubles in the middle of the season to give his team a better opportunity to score more points.

"We aren't as deep as the other two teams," Waterford head coach Ken Wade said. "We had to grab the points where we knew we could and just sit on them. I'm so proud of Chris for being a team player."

"We wanted to build a better team," Chang said. "Besides, it's more fun than singles."

In third singles, Rowland Hall freshman Matt Bossart eventually put away Manti's Jordan Vanorman 6-0, 6-7 (7-0), 6-3 after two highly competitive final sets.

In the final match of the day, Rowland Hall's Lawrence Benjamin and Robert Thompson came from behind to defeat Manti's sophomore duo, Nick Tibbs and Griffin Aste, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. With match point on his racket, the Harvard-bound Benjamin didn't flinch.

"I didn't think about it being match point," Benjamin said. "That makes me nervous. I just focused on the shot that came back and thought, 'backhand it."'

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E-mail: hbruce@desnews.com

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