Top-seeded Xavier was crowned the SCC Division II boys' tennis champion on May 22 after it beat No. 3 East Haven 5-2 at Yale Tennis Courts in New Haven. Xavier locked up the title with wins in the first four completed matches with quick victories coming at No. 1, 2 and 4 singles, along with second doubles.

"I think that mentally some of our guys were drained from the first two matches, but hats off to Xavier," East Haven Head Coach Rob Manghnani said. "Guys stepped up and they had more will today to take it. They played a phenomenal match."

In the first four matches, PJ Warrick lost at No. 1 singles 6-0, 6-1 for just his fifth loss all season. He was outmatched by Xavier's Varun Jayaram, who is one of the top players in the state. At No. 2 singles, Steve Carofano lost 6-1, 6-1 and at No. 4 singles Sean Dugan was edged 6-1, 6-4.

On the doubles side, the No. 2 tandem of Joe Haesche and Joshua Levin were beaten 6-0, 6-1. After the victory was already secured for Xavier, its first doubles team beat Mike Dessureau and Jake Fetzner 6-2, 6-2, earning them five victories on the day.

No. 3 singles player Evan Schneer won a tough three-set match 6-1, 2-6, 6-2 and also won a three-setter in the Yellowjackets' SCC semifinal win over West Haven 6-2, 6-7, 6-1.

"I'm very glad it happened to Evan in that situation because it couldn't happen to a better kid," Manghnani said. "It's a nice lasting legacy for Evan that he won in this fashion against two quality opponents."

The No. 3 doubles team of Kirk So and Jonathan Gioia won 6-1, 6-3, making them the only East Haven player/team to go 3-0 in the SCC Tournament. Although this win may not mean as much to them, their three-set win against West Haven in the semifinal put the Yellowjackets in the championship situation. The match against West Haven was knotted 3-3 and So and Gioia won 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, giving East Haven its eighth 4-3 win of the season.

"At the beginning of the year, some of those matches weren't going our way, but they definitely were able to mature on the tennis court and with more experience, they were able to win those close matches," Manghnani said.

To get to the championship, East Haven defeated North Haven 4-3 in the quarterfinal prior to the victory over West Haven. Manghnani praised the efforts of Carofano against North Haven as he won in three sets to help the Yellowjackets advance.

"Against North Haven, Steve Carofano came up really big and won a singles No. 2 match, a match that at the beginning of the year, he might not have done so after he lost the first set," Manghnani said.

Carofano lost the first set in that match 4-6, but rallied to take the final two 6-4, 6-0. Along with the No. 3 doubles team, Manghnani was impressed by the play of Warrick against West Haven as he defeated an experienced opponent 6-4, 6-4. This is only Warrick's second year playing tennis so him defeating an experienced No. 1 opponent saw him, like many of this teammates, exceeding expectations.

"These guys have definitely grown over the last couple of years, especially this year, and I'm very excited and I think it's tremendous that they got this far," Manghnani said. "They really worked hard and I'm very proud that they put East Haven tennis back on the map."