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Altoona swept in final

The postseason is the best time for a team to be performing at its best.

The State College Area High School boys tennis team is doing just that this spring.

State College lost five regular-season matches but is catching fire in the postseason. The Little Lions swept all three singles matches and defeated Altoona, 3-0 in the District 6 Class 3A team championship match Tuesday evening at the Penn State Altoona tennis courts.

State College (11-5) advances to the PIAA state tournament next Tuesday against a WPIAL opponent at a District 7 site.

Altoona closed the books on a 13-2 season.

State College senior Owen Lloyd, sophomore Drew Cagle, and senior Sankar Ramesh all notched singles victories as State College clinched the verdict before either of the doubles matches were finalized.

“District 6 always has good tennis, and today was a good match,” State College coach Jane Borden said. “Our guys have worked extremely hard to get ready for the end of the season, and they’re peaking at the right time.”

Lloyd, the Little Lions’ number one singles player, defeated Altoona senior Jonah Brandt, 6-1, 6-0, while Cagle, State’s number two singles player, notched a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Altoona senior Casey Rispoli. State’s number three singles player, Ramesh, pounded out a 6-1, 6-2 win over Altoona sophomore Nick Schimminger.

“State College is a really good team, and their top two, Lloyd and Cagle, have a lot of experience at the state-tournament level,” Altoona coach Eric Hovan said. “We were really competitive in the doubles, but they have really strong singles players.”

Lloyd had a game plan of getting the ball deep into the opposite end of the court against Brandt in the number one singles match.

“I was just trying to keep the rallies long, and keep the ball in deep so that he didn’t have a lot of angles to work with,” Lloyd said. “He’s crafty, he keeps the ball in play, and if you keep the ball short against him, he can burn you.

“I tried to minimize the easy shots for him,” Lloyd said. “It was a good match. I felt like I did a good job coming out and doing what I was trying to do.”

Borden felt that Lloyd did a good job of controlling the match.

“Owen was aggressive at the right times, and he also served well,” Borden said. “Owen controlled the match with good pace and good spin.”

Cagle also played a strong match in his victory over Rispoli.

“He’s such a smart player,” Borden said of Cagle. “He knew what he needed to do, and he executed when he needed to execute. He served well, and he returned well, and when you do those things, you can control the match.”

Ramesh also won his match over Nick Schimminger in straight sets.

“Sankar was in control from the start,” Borden said. “He uses a good mix of shots, from top spin to slice, to moving forward to the net.”

Neither of the doubles matches was finished, because the overall match had already been decided by State College’s sweep of the three singles decisions.

In number one doubles play, Altoona’s team of junior Ben Warren and senior Mike Schimminger defeated the State College team of junior Ronit Patel and Daniel Xu, 7-5. The State College duo reversed the outcome in the second set, winning, 6-2.

In number two doubles play, State College’s team of junior Evan Jones and Ethan Rowland defeated Altoona’s duo of junior Alex Berardinelli and sophomore Kyle Murray, 7-5 in the first set. The State College team led, 4-1 in the second set before play was halted.

“I’m really proud of our guys,” Borden said. “They’re a great group of young men. I’m looking forward to next week (and the state playoffs).”

Hovan had high words of praise for his team as well.

“It was a great season,” Hovan said. “I’m really proud of our guys. The win-loss record was obviously good, but this was a great group of guys, and a great group to coach. They worked hard 12 months of the year on tennis, and they were also active with civic duty in the community.

“Being around guys like this is why you coach,” Hovan said. “We’ve got to keep working, and hopefully, we’ll get back here next year, and have a different result.”

SINGLES: 1, Lloyd, SC, def. Brandt, 6-1, 6-0. 2, Cagle, SC, def. Rispoli, 6-2, 6-2. 3, Ramesh, SC, def. N. Schimminger, 6-1, 6-2.

DOUBLES: 1, (No decision), Warren-M. Schimminger, A, def. Patel-Xu, 7-5; Patel-Xu, SC, def. Warren-M. Schimminger, 6-2 before play was stopped; 2, (No decision), Jones-Rowland, SC, def. Berardinelli-Murray, 7-5 and led, 4-1 in the second set before play was stopped.

Records: State College (11-5), Altoona (13-2).

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