Albuquerque Academy’s powerful boys tennis squad scored another victory last weekend when the team took first place in the Albuquerque Metro Tennis Championship.

The weeklong tournament featured 18 schools in the Albuquerque area. The Chargers’ varsity boys team won the tournament with 22 points, seven points more than second place finisher La Cueva High School.

The Chargers, the defending state champions, came into the tournament with three singles players and two doubles teams.

Connor Dils ‘24 led the Chargers in singles, defeating his first four opponents and making his way to the final, where he faced the #1 seed and defending singles state champion, Philip Bosin of Eldorado High School. Throughout the match, Dils kept his slice low and right over the net, making it tough on Bosin to return; nevertheless, Bosin was skillful, executing fierce forehands and accurate backhands with plenty of topspin. Dils, who was the #3 seed, held his own and played well, taking the defending Metro champion to a thrilling and exhausting three sets.

When the dust settled on the court, Bosin won the final 2-6, 6-4, and 6-2.

“Philip is always good and going to give a good fight,” said Dils. “In the end, he outplayed me. I played my game plan well and created ideal scenarios, but my failure to execute about three or four points was enough to shift the momentum to him after two hard sets.”

Despite Dils’ hard loss in the singles bracket, the Academy Chargers won the Metro boys doubles championship.

The top-seeded doubles team of Jack Hubbard ‘23 and I won our final, defeating JR Martinez and Kaden Nguyen of Volcano Vista 7-5 and 6-2. We served strongly, executed hard, precise volleys, and overpowered our opponents with strong winners.

Hubbard and I never dropped a set throughout the Metro tournament.

Hubbard spoke about how it felt to be doubles champions this year after coming up just short last year in the same tournament.

“After getting second last year, it felt great to come out with a win this year.”

Head coach Mike Cheves was also thrilled that his players won another Metro title.

“It feels great to be Metro champions for three years in a row. I couldn’t be prouder of our guys, and it was a great group of kids that did it. The Metro championships are always my favorite tennis event every year, and I believe it’s the most challenging, so it’s amazing that we came out on top again.”

Then Cheves addressed how he was going to prepare his tennis team for the upcoming district and state championships.

“We are going to stick to our routine, keep working hard, stay focused, and get ready the best we can for the pressure coming up,” said Cheves.

The varsity girls team also didn’t disappoint. They came in second place overall with 15 points, behind La Cueva’s 21.5 points.

This spring, the Boys team went undefeated in their regular season, racking up a record of 10-0. They’re now seeking to win the district championships that began April 27, and in May the boys will also be after their 20th straight state championship.