The second-seeded Tigers, who had four seniors out of seven players taking the court, including three of them in singles action, managed to get a surprising 5-0 sweep of No. 3 Altoona at the Tiger Tennis Center.

“That’s a really good team, and they’ve been getting better and better the last couple years. They’ve been getting closer and closer to beating us,” Hollidaysburg coach Brian Denis said. “They’re young. We could be in trouble next year. We graduate a lot of seniors, and they play such a tough schedule.

“I was not expecting a 5-0 match. It was a 3-2 match last time, and Michael (Waibel) had to pull out a nailbiter last time to win.”

A lot of eyes may have been on No. 1 singles with Hollidaysburg’s Garrett Bouchard and Altoona’s Dylan Batrus, but the overall match was already wrapped up before the two finished their match.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Hollidaysburg's Felix Xu battles Altoona's Owen Wasovich.

Bouchard, Felix Xu and Waibel, all seniors, were keys in winning. Bouchard and Xu won in straight sets over Batrus and Owen Wasovich, respectively. Waibel dropped the first set to the Mountain Lions’ Jude Brunhuber, but rallied back to win 6-0, 6-2 in the final two sets.

“I think the biggest difference is Hollidaysburg’s senior leadership,” Altoona coach Jake Colledge said. “You can tell their top three players are all seniors. They were mentally tough and ready for today’s match. They didn’t give up any free points. They had a pretty successful district singles and doubles run the last couple weeks, and they kind of carried that momentum into today.”

Bouchard and Batrus broke each other in the first two games of the match. The two were even all the way up to a 4-4 tie in the set before Bouchard held serve and broke Batrus again to take a 6-4 win.

Bouchard also jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second set before ultimately winning 6-3.

“I started out shaky, but once I got into the match I started playing better and finding my shots,” Bouchard said. “Overall I think we both played well.

“(Batrus) is extremely consistent. He runs down almost every shot. If you want to beat him, you have to hit through him with fantastic shots.”

Alex Arbogast and Cooper McAleer picked up a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles that was a little bit of a shock to Denis.

“I’m really impressed at No. 1 doubles,” Denis said. “They’ve owned us at No. 1 doubles. I don’t want to say it was a throw away match, but that was probably the least chance we have of winning. That was key. I don’t think we’ve ever beat that position.”

Jacob Sidney and Aamir Azad got a 6-2, 6-1 win over Altoona’s Thomas Orr and Sean Ratchford in No. 2 doubles.

The Mountain Lions finished their season with a 12-6 record.

“We played a lot of good schools throughout the course of the season,” Colledge said. “It was a very successful season. Couldn’t be happier for the guys. It’s been a blast being around them these last couple months. I can’t say enough about their intensity every time they step on the court.”

The championship match at top-seeded State College was slated for Wednesday, but the match was moved up to this afternoon due to probable inclement weather on Wednesday.

SINGLES: 1. Garrett Bouchard, H, def. Dylan Batrus, A, 6-4, 6-3; 2. Felix Xu, H, def. Owen Wasovich, A, 6-2, 6-3; 3. Michael Waibel, H, def. Jude Brunhuber, A, 4-6, 6-0, 6-2.

DOUBLES: 1. Alex Arbogast-Cooper McAleer, H, def. Aiden Aiken-Avery Lanzendorfer, A, 6-2, 6-4; 2. Jacob Sidney-Aamir Azad, H, def. Thomas Orr-Sean Ratchford, A, 6-2, 6-1.

Records: Altoona (12-6); Hollidaysburg (17-0).