Boys doubles champs Cyrus Clendaniel and Will Sedwick celebrate legendary West coach Bill Cotton’s 11th state title.
It took three matches and eight sets spread over two days for West’s Cyrus Clendaniel and Will Sedwick to tap out West Valley twins Jaken and Logan Reinheller at the ASAA/First National Bank Alaska Tennis State Championships.
In a series separated by a knife’s edge, their rubber match on Saturday came down to the wire as West rallied to win the final three points of a third-set tiebreaker to pull out a 4-1, 1-4, 11-9 decision in the short-set if-necessary match at The Alaska Club.
Clendaniel’s double fault had given the Wolfpack a 9-8 lead, but West duo survived and thrived, winning the final three points to seal the deal.
There was something about a third-set tiebreaker that galvanized the Eagles. A day earlier, Clendaniel and Sedwick dominated the breaker to rule the Reinhellers in a 6-2, 4-6, 10-4 win.
West looked to fly away again in Saturday’s finale after winning the first six points before the Wolfpack clawed back. The comeback was indicative of the fighting spirit of this matchup.
The Reinhellers actually won more tournament games (26-25) but Clendaniel and Sedwick held a decisive 21-13 edge in third-set tiebreaker points.
Clendaniel and Sedwick finished the postseason with a 5-1 record, with their lone loss coming to the Reinheller twins.
The West boys got hot at the right time to end the season with a title – something their dads never did when they played tennis for the Eagles.
Jack Sedwick reached the boys doubles region final in 1988 while Allen Clendaniel advanced to the second round in boys singles in 1995.
That was before there was a state tournament, or a loser’s bracket. Or even legendary West coach Bill Cotton.
ASAA/First National Bank Alaska
Tennis State Championships
Boys Singles
Aaron Griffin, South, d. Jude Cebrain, West, 6-1, retired
Girls Singles
Lana Cebrain, West, d. Skylar McCasland, Eagle River, 6-0, 6-1
Boys Doubles
Cyrus Clendaniel|Will Sedwick, West, d. Jaken Reinheller|Logan Reinheller, West Valley, 4-1, 1-4, 11-9*
Girls Doubles
Ruth Green|Lavinia Li, West, d. Chelsea Ligsay|Milina Mazon, Juneau-Douglas, 5-4, 4-2*
Mixed Doubles
Elizabeth Djajalie|Lucas Mattson, Juneau-Douglas, d. Sophia Bechtoldt|Noah Stahl, Lathrop, 6-2, 6-2
*If-necessary match
Cotton led the Eagles to the team title for the third straight year, this time beating Juneau-Douglas.
This makes 11 state titles for Cotton since the ASAA tournament was created in 2007. He’s also won 17 Cook Inlet Conference Tournament titles since he started coaching at the school in 2004.
In addition to boys doubles, the Eagles won girls singles and girls doubles and made the finals in boys singles.
South’s Aaron Griffin, beat West’s Jude Cebrian in the boys singles final, winning the first set 6-1 before retiring due to a wrist injury.
Cebrian made the strategic decision to default against Griffin earlier in the tournament, then used a moon-ball game plan where he hit high lobs rather than go for winners to frustrate his opponents.
Cebrian won three matches in the loser’s bracket with the moon-ball strategy before Griffin brought him back to Earth.
Congratulations to the West Anchorage Eagles, your 2023 ASAA/First National Bank Alaska Tennis State Champions! @FNBAlaska pic.twitter.com/fYEzstsAap
— ASAA (@ASAA_org) October 10, 2023
The only drama on the girls side came in doubles, where West’s Ruth Green and Lavinnia and Li were pushed to an if-necessary match by Juneau’s Chelsea Ligsay and Milina Mazon.
Coming out of the loser’s bracket with a tough 4-2, 4-0 over Lathrop, Juneau beat West 7-5, 2-6, 10-8 to force the if match. But West came back to win 5-4, 4-2.
In girls singles, West’s Lana Cebrian cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 win over Eagle River’s Skylar McCasland. Just hours earlier, McCasland had outlasted Bartlett’s Maryanna Zelazek in a two-hour slugfest to reach the final.
In mixed doubles, Juneau’s Elizabeth Djajalie and Lucas Mattson became the first non-Anchorage team to win the event since 2017.