Raiders Claim First Boys Tennis Title
After 16 years of coaching the girls tennis team at Loudoun County, head coach Randy Hanger had accomplished numerous district titles in his career, and even a state championship in 2003. Not that anyone would question Hanger's coaching ability with a resume like his, but after he took over the Loudoun County Boys team this year, he was under the microscope. Let's just say he and the rest of the Raiders passed the test this year as they won the Group AA Division 5 State Championship for Boys Tennis on Saturday.
County won 5-4 over Hidden Valley in Radford on Saturday to claim the first state championship by any boys team in the long history of the Raider Athletic Program. The only other state championship won at County was the one Hanger guided in 2003 with the girls tennis program.
Loudoun County was led by #1 seed David Replogle and last year's #1 seed David Galuski. Replogle and Galuski battled early in the spring to determine who would take the lead in the singles play and Replogle won out by edging Gauski in several practice matches. Galuski then turned his focus to leading County's #1 doubles team with fellow teammate Paul Marshall. The talented Raider squad tore through the Dulles District undefeated and did the same in regional play, beating Dulles District foe Park View for the regional championship.
County's state championship in boys tennis makes it a total of 4 that have been won this spring by teams and individuals. Potomac Falls won the Group AA Soccer title on Saturday and Park View's Natalie Baird won the state championship in the discuss earlier this month. In addition. Broad Run's Jeff Edwards won the high jump state title.
Call it an omen. The last time the Loudoun County High School Men’s Tennis Team faced a challenging opponent, the first good sign was a quick convincing win by number four seed Peter Satagaj. This time the Raiders would not know the outcome until four hours later. The Raiders defeated the Hidden Valley Titans by a 5-4 score to win the Virginia State AA Tennis Championship with a perfect 23-0 record.
The Raiders struck first with Satagaj’s win. The Titans quickly evened it back up. Senior Captain David Galuski, with another awesome display of power tennis, put the Raiders back on top. The Titans pulled even again. Paul Marshall demonstrated the depth he brought to the Raiders by putting the Raiders ahead again, 3-2. The Titans were tough and their number one seed pulled out a victory to even the score at 3-3 after the singles play. The Titans won a doubles match to jump ahead. Galuski/Marshall pulled the match to even again at 4-4. It was all up to the number two doubles team of David Replogle and Bryant Bland. They were not to be denied. They won the first set, and the Titans won the second set. But then Replogle/Bland turned it up a notch and took the third set.
And that’s how the Raiders showed the State why they are the champions.
Match by Match Scores:
Ed Arsura d David Replogle (L) 6-7, 6-2, 6-2
David Galuski (L) d Brandon Alteri 6-1, 6-3
Paul Marshall (L) d Sean Li 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
Peter Satagaj (L) d David Kao 6-2, 6-3
Greg Miguarese d Bryant Bland (L) 6-1,6-1
David Tran d Andrew Cypher (L) 6-4,6-4
Galuski/Marshall (L) d Arsura/Kao 7-6,6-4
Replogle/Bland (L) d Li/Alteri 7-5,2-6,6-3
Miguarese/?? d Gall/Satagaj 6-1,6-2
