Mike Ridaught
The Eastside boys tennis team swept Sebring 5-0 on Wednesday to advance to the Class 2A state semifinals at Red Bug Lake Park in Seminole County.
“I’m very proud of all those guys,” said Eastside athletic director Philip Crutchfield. “They worked hard and have overcome a ton with COVID. To see them make it to the final four and hopefully go on to win it would be fantastic.”
Crutchfield said it’s been six years since Eastside has been to state as a team.
Second-year head coach Don Reeder said a fast start was pivotal.
“The key to winning was winning our doubles matches,” Reeder said in a phone interview. “We got off to a quick start, then only had to win two of the singles matches to clinch.”
Eastside, the No. 3 seed, will face No. 4 seed Satellite in in the state semifinal round at 8 a.m. Thursday.
“The boys know it’s going to be a tough matchup tomorrow,” Reeder said. “We’re looking forward to that.”
The winner of the Eastside-Satellite matchup will play the winner of Pine Crest and Gulliver Prep Thursday afternoon.
Here are the results from Wednesday’s quarterfinal action:
Class 2A State Boys Tennis Eastside Rams
#1 Doubles
Eastside: Ethan Cockey/Ben Davis
vs.
Seabring: Thomas Lackey/Vinay Krishnadas
6–1; 6-2
#2 Doubles
Eastside: Viktor Mai/Vedant Karalkar
vs.
Seabring: John Allen Rogers/Elijah De La Nuez
6-2; 6-3
#1 Singles
Eastside: Ethan Cockey
vs.
Seabring: Thomas Lackey
6-0; 7-5
#2 Singles (finished first)
Eastside: Viktor Mai
vs
Seabring: Vinay Krishnadas
6-3; 3-2
#3 Singles
Eastside: Vedant Kalrakar
vs
Seabring: John Allen Rogers
6-1; 4-3
#4 Singles (finished first)
Eastside: Ben Davis
vs
Seabring: Elijah De La Nuez
6-2; 6-0
#5 Singles (finished second)
Eastside: Felix Ingmarsson
vs
Seabring: Kartik Ananthan
6-0; 6-3
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with Thursday’s game time and quotes from Don Reeder.