Back-to-back! Myrtle Beach High boys tennis dominates, wins second-straight title
Myrtle Beach High School fans and players could sense another title was in their grasp.
A big group of fans gathered by the court at the Eddie Floyd Tennis Center where Spenser Green was playing his match. The crowd watched intently as Green finished off Riverside’s Ethan Purica to help the Seahawks clinch the South Carolina Class 4A state championship 5-1 on Saturday.
It’s Myrtle Beach’s second-straight title and third in the last five years. The championship is the 12th in program history. The 12 titles are second-most by any boys program in the state, trailing Christ Church’s 24 championships.
The title is the second for coach Jeremy Howard, who took over the program midseason of last year. Howard also is the school’s boys volleyball head coach and has helped out with the basketball program.
“Coming off last year, it was more of a business trip,” Howard said. “This was more of a fun year. We had a young crew, but we still had some good returners coming back. But it feels good. We got some of our seniors leaving with three championship rings.
“The repeat felt good. It was all-season work.”
David Raynor is one of the seniors Howard mentioned who finished his career with three state championships. The Seahawks’ No. 3 singles player defeated Ethan Kukkamalla in straight sets.
“Winning back-to-back titles in anything is hard,” Raynor said. “Making it back was a goal of ours. We are glad we could accomplish it.
“I have been playing on the team for six years and playing these guys all my life. It is good to see how good they have gotten and how good this team has gotten. We all know each other and have good chemistry.”
The Seahawks finished the season with a 25-1 record.
Myrtle Beach, the No. 2 seed in the Lower State, had a bye in the first round of the playoffs and defeated May River, James Island and Lucy Beckham to make it to the championship.
Myrtle Beach’s lone loss in Saturday’s title match was in No. 1 doubles to Riverside’s Collin Drake and Kiam Felty (6-2, 7-5).
But the Seahawks’ singles players were dominant and didn’t drop a set. Other match winners were No. 1 Nolan Cahill (6-1, 6-2), No. 2 Green (6-0, 6-2), No. 4 Elliott Finger (6-2, 6-0) and No. 5 Ashiv Patel (6-1, 6-0).
“Riverside is a good team and we knew it was going to be competitive across the board,” Howard said. “We had a great season and played some great teams. So coming in, we tried to keep that same mindset and do what we do best and dominate.”
