BY MATT STOUT

In droves they’ve come, challengers to the Concord boys tennis team’s throne in Class L, and time after time, they left beaten, bruised and empty-handed.

Manchester West, though, was different, the only team to beat the Tide in the last 10 seasons -- twice, in fact, including once in the state final two years ago.

On Tuesday, May 29, the Blue Knights couldn’t secure victory No. 3.

After taking a 4-2 lead through singles play, the top-ranked Tide made quick work of doubles, capturing an 8-1 win at No. 1 to ensure themselves a 5-2 match victory, an undefeated 16-0 season and their ninth state title in 10 years.

The Blue Knights, who finished at 15-2 and had taken Concord to the brink in a 5-4 loss during the regular season, couldn’t duplicate their success from that contest, when they were the ones with a 4-2 lead after singles.

Since dropping three doubles matches that day, West had reconfigured its partners, hoping to find the right chemistry for another showdown with Concord. The Blue Knights had that opportunity at the University of New Hampshire, but the Tide, like they’ve been the last decade, were too fast, too experienced and too good.

Senior captain Dylan Fischer, a 9-7 winner at No. 4 singles, and Rob Heestand, an 8-5 victor at No. 5, accounted for West’s only points, though not by much. No. 2 player Dustin Metayer erased a 6-2 deficit to Alex Pince to make it 7-6 and C.J. Beck held a
lead late into his match against Austin Scott, but both ultimately fell, 8-6.

“They were just a little bit more mentally tough, and, of course, if we were going into (doubles) 3-3 or up, 4-2, it would have been a different result,” said West coach Shawna Morley. “Today, they were (better) at UNH, but in general, player to player, talent to talent, it was anybody’s match.”

“When I came off the court, I thought it was at least 3-3,” said Fischer, who was down 7-4 at one point in his match with Scott Levick. “We were right there.”

Notes

West’s No. 1 singles player, Courtney Mountifield, played tough but dropped his match, 8-4, to Concord’s Will Hartigan, while Kevin Lee fell by the same score to Ed Lee, whom he had beaten in a tiebreaker during the regular season.