Boy's Tennis | 5/9/2023 11:48:00 AM
Florence, SC — The Oceanside Collegiate Academy boys' tennis team won its third consecutive South Carolina High School League championship on Saturday, sweeping Charleston County rival Academic Magnet 6-0 at the Dr. Eddie Floyd Tennis Complex.
The Landsharks improved to 10-2 overall on the season with their third victory this spring over the Raptors.
"On the bus ride up here, we were talking about a three-peat, and it was a focus of our team all season," OCA Coach Shawn Harris told South Carolina High School Sports Report Editor Billy G. Baker following the match. "Everybody brought their 'A' game today. Our three seniors – Garrett Brooker, Justice Gallt and Bryson Harple – really wanted to go out with a three-peat and we are especially proud of them and their contributions to the success of our program."
The title was the first for OCA in Class AA after winning consecutive titles in Class AAA in 2021 and 2022.
The Landsharks won the title despite missing one of their starters in singles play. Regular Alex Lozano was unavailable was replaced in the lineup by Helms Sander. The freshman acquitted himself well by posting a straight-set victory over Chase Roberts (6-1, 6-3).
"Everybody else was here and everyone played well for us," Harris said. "It is just a great feeling for everyone on our team to see us reach a goal we had set for ourselves at the start of the season. We knew everything about Academic Magnet, and they knew everything about us, so we knew we had a quality opponent we had to contend with."
At No. 1 singles OCA junior Devin Ruthotina defeated Pierson Tran (6-2, 6-2) and Brooker won at No. 2 singles over Thomas Nguyen (6-2, 6-3). At three singles, freshman Lucas Skillman easily defeated Charlie Claus (6-0, 6-0). The most competitive singles match came at No. 5 where Landsharks' junior William Ramey rallied from a first set loss to defeat Walker Baulknight in a third set tiebreaker (1-6, 6-1, 11-9).
Galt and Harple played No. 1 doubles and had the most competitive match of the championship when they ended in a pro-set 8-8 tie before taking the tiebreaker 7-5 over Sean Khamnei and Spence Cox.
Harris said his team has the talent to make a run at another title next spring.
"Despite losing three talented seniors, we have a young team returning for us next season," Harris said. "Helms is a freshman, Luke is a freshman, Alex is a rising junior and Will (Ramey) and Devin (Ruthotina) are rising seniors. We have five of our top six singles players back. Brooker is our only senior singles starter on the current team."
All of the returning players for the Landsharks participate in a year-round tennis program at the Charleston Tennis Academy. The 2023 team captains for the Landsharks were Brooker and Harple. Other OCA team members included Wyatt Berchfield, Preston Findley, Leo Hurst and Gavin Mangum.
The Landsharks still have individual honors to play for. Skillman and Brooker both won three matches on Monday and play Tuesday in opposite semifinal matches for an opportunity to play for an individual state title in a combined bracket of players from Classes A, AA and AAA.
Lozano fell in his quarterfinal match on Monday but played in the consolation semifinal on Tuesday.
The run of state championships for Oceanside Collegiate Academy this year, which currently stands at four during the 2022-23 academic year, may not yet be complete. The girls' soccer team played at home tonight against Bishop England for the South State title and berth in Saturday's state championship game. The Landsharks softball team will play for a District title on Wednesday and, with a win, would open the state playoffs on Friday.
Oceanside Collegiate's baseball team coasted to a Class AA Lower District 7 championship with a pair of victories over Buford over the weekend. The Landsharks will begin their march toward a state title on Thursday when they host North Central in the opening round of the Lower State Championship.
The Oceanside boys' soccer team will face rival Gray Collegiate Academy at Irmo High School on Saturday with a state title on the line. The Landsharks are 13-0-1 this spring, ranking No. 1 in the state and No. 4 in the nation, having allowed just three goals all season. Gray has a record of 21-6-1 and has posted shutouts in each of its two playoff wins.
The championship game is scheduled for 2:15 p.m.
About Oceanside Collegiate Academy: Oceanside Collegiate Academy (OCA), located in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., serves high school students in a safe, small and family-centered setting. Our students seek the opportunity and challenge of rigorous curriculum, high academic standards and elite athletics while earning up to two years of college credit. OCA serves students in grades 9-12 using an honors curriculum in 9th and 10 grades with a dual enrollment curriculum in 11th and 12th grades.
Learn more about OCA by visiting our website at OceansideCollegiateAcademy.org and by following us on social media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For video content, visit our YouTube channel.
