This past Friday and Saturday in their first competition of the season the Academy boys varsity tennis team served up a convincing victory, outrallying six other schools from across the state in the Academy Invitational. Players from Farmington, Clovis, Carlsbad, Cleveland, Rio Rancho, Piedra Vista, and Academy all went to battle in this individual tournament.

Both singles and doubles were divided into three flights, or levels.

The Academy dominated the singles bracket in all flights. Here are the winners of each flight: Flight 1—Austin Curtis ’25; Flight 2—Adrian Hanna ’27; Flight 3—Abe Gerstein ’26.

Academy continued to control the tournament, winning all three doubles flights. The winners include: Flight 1—Hanna and Cole Hedges ’27; Flight 2—Jacob McMahon-Wooten ’26 and Quinn Douangpanya ’26; Flight 3—Jacob Anderson ’25 and Khan Lin ’24.

When the dust settled, Academy had swept all six categories.

First-year Academy coach Tim Cass, who is coaching his first high school tennis team after leading college teams for many years including Texas A&M, led his team to great success.

Cass said he’s proud of his team’s victory.

“I’m especially proud of all of our players’ effort and sportsmanship,” he said. “I thought the statewide event was terrific and for us to capture all of the divisions speaks to the level and depth of this team.”

The Academy tennis team will begin their regular season on Thursday, February 29th, as they face Eldorado High School on their home courts. As the Chargers gear up for a big season, they hope to take their 21st straight state championship.