On May 8, the State High Boys Tennis Team won its home match against Altoona in the District VI semi-finals at the Prospect Avenue Tennis Courts. 

The State High Little Lions had singles players Mark Sandow, Will Liu, and Ishan Sharma dominating the courts. Doubles players Peter Novikov, Evan Zhang, Dash Nealon, and Jerry Zhang show the same competitive aggression. 

Sandow shined on the court as the top singles player for the Little Lions. In his match against Altoona’s Luke Mitchell,  Sandow won the first set 6-2 and tied in the second set 5-5. The match ended without a third set, however, Sandow led after two and took home a match point for the Little Lions. 

Similarly, Liu played his match against Josh Adams from Altoona and did not finish, but led 6-2 in his first set as well as 3-0 in the second set. Sharma swept Brady Sassano from Altoona with a 6-3 first set win and a 6-2 second set win. 

In doubles play, Novikov and Evan Zhang played as the top doubles team for State High. They faced off against Altoona’s Aidan Aiken and Avery Lansdorfer. 

“Starting up with my partner Evan and getting back into the tennis grind[…], it was pretty challenging in the beginning just getting used to the whole like doubles dynamic, but when we got used to it we started going and we won,” Novikov said.

With Novikov’s spiking and Evan Zhang’s drop serves, as well as consistent communication, they dominated against Altoona with a 6-1 first set win and a 6-1 second set win. 

Jerry Zhang and Nealon played as State High’s second doubles team. They took on Altoona’s Max Chille and Sean Ratchford. 

“I knew they were going to be a tough team and they play really hard. I know Altoona’s consistently a pretty good team so I knew it would be a decently hard match, but I knew that me and Jerry have been practicing a lot recently […], so I knew we could pull it out and I was very happy with how we played,” Nealon said.

 Nealon and Jerry Zhang came out with a win for the Little Lions with a first set of 6-1 and a second set of 6-0. 

“This was our first match in a while since there was a three week pause from the normal season, so it was really fun,” Novikov said.

The State High Boys Tennis Team finished with a final score of 3-0 against Altoona making their season record 15-0. After the victory over Altoona in the semi-finals, the Little Lions went on to win the District VI Championship. The team will then move on to the PIAA State Playoffs, where it will open the tournament against Manheim Township on May 14.