The boys varsity tennis team extended their winning streak to 20 games after a 5-0 sweep of the Central Catholic Raiders in the state round of 32 on Thursday, June 1 at Waldstein Park. With the win, the Warriors move on to the round of 16 against Shrewsbury on Tuesday, June 6 at 4 p.m.

The Warriors jumped out of the gates fast and led for the entirety of every match. Head coach Mike Mowatt said he was very pleased with the team’s plays early on and that not underestimating each team is important to the team’s continued success.

“We need to continue to take every team seriously. We started out really strong today,” Mowatt said. “They were a short-handed team, but we took them seriously and it showed.”

Sophomore and the team’s third-ranked singles player Peter Khudyakov said the feeling after a victory is a big part of what keeps the team going and the winning streak alive.

“We need to continue to think about how good the feeling of winning is and to let that feeling drive us to win every match,” Khudyakov said. “After losing last year’s state championship, it hurt a lot so we never want to go through that again.”

Early on, the Warriors jumped out to a 1-0 lead over the Raiders courtesy of an early 6-0, 6-1 match victory by Khudyakov. From there, the Warriors never looked back with wins coming from junior and the team’s second-ranked singles player Dhevin Nahata.

Sophomore Deven Devaiah is the team’s first-ranked singles player and took care of the Raiders’ first-ranked player with ease, winning 6-0 and 6-1. After the match, Devaiah said the strong team chemistry removes the pressure that he puts on himself and helps him be successful.

“I think chemistry comes from having the people on the sidelines cheering for you. I know my team has my back so it’s not too much pressure on me,” Devaiah said. “Personally, I try not to put crazy expectations on myself because I find that when I do, I get nervous or I don’t play as well.”

Heading into the round of 16 in the state tournament, Mowatt said that even though the team is very young, they need to use their past experiences and keep working to win.

“We’re mostly sophomores, so I think going through last year and losing in the finals let us know what we needed to work on and I think we have improved,” Mowatt said. “We know that we really need to stay on our best game to defeat everyone.”