Stachowiak wins Southwest Wake singles; Green Hope duo wins doubles title

Rhonda Blanchard would have been beaming with pride.

Middle Creek boys tennis player Nick Stachowiak claimed the Southwest Wake Athletic Conference singles title, keeping it with the school for a third straight year.

Blanchard, the school’s coach who passed away unexpectedly two days before tryouts started, was honored at the tournament. On Monday, the league posthumously announced her as the SWAC coach of the year. Her husband, parents and in-laws were on hand. There was a moment of silence as well.

“I’m glad I could keep it in the Middle Creek family again this year,” Stachowiak said. “Yesterday, having that ceremony, motivated me to try hard and win this one for her as well.”

It was Stachowiak’s second SWAC singles title in three years – he was injured all of last season, when former teammate Justin Panepinto won – and did not drop a game over the course of his four victories in two days. The championship final against Panther Creek’s Sidd Pal had a familiar scoreline – 6-0, 6-0.

On the doubles’ side, Green Hope coach Kevin Taylor was left to cheer for points, not sides, when it became an all-Falcons final. Green Hope’s Louis Rico and George Edwards bested Rohit Ghotkar and Eshaan Javalkar 6-3, 6-4.

Singles

Stachowiak’s biggest challenge since returning to the court after fractured bones in his back sidelined him his sophomore year will come next weekend in the 4A Mideast regional. He figures to be on the opposite end of the bracket as friend and reigning state champ Bo Boyden of Wakefield.

Boyden lost to Stachowiak as a sophomore for the 4A singles title and then claimed it last year as a junior. Stachowiak has never lost a singles or doubles match in his high school career.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Stachowiak said. “I haven’t played those guys in a competitive tournament in a while.”

Regional qualifiers: Stachowiak; Pal, a freshman; Green Hope senior Ashwin Iyer; Middle Creek sophomore Grant McGrew; Cary freshman Lawrence Friedland. Friedland defeated Panther Creek junior Nadir Bajwa 6-7, 6-4 and 10-2 for the league’s final regional spot.

Doubles

Taylor has stressed the importance of doubles to his team all season.

Green Hope, undefeated and SWAC team champs for the 14th straight season, saw that pay off with a title match that Edwards called “a little weird.”

“It was a little uncomfortable,” Rico, a senior, said. “We tried to treat them like regular opponents.”

And these were not even the Falcons’ top doubles teams. Green Hope was without No. 1 player Ben Wayand, who usually pairs with Rico, as well as Matt Whitney, who partners with Edwards.

Even without them, “You can see the movement on the court is better,” Rico said.

Edwards, a junior, was glad to hold the title plaque after falling short in singles last season.

“It was good to finally win after having kind of a heartbreaker last year against Justin (Panepinto),” Edwards said.

Regional qualifiers: Rico-Edwards; Ghotkar, a sophomore, and Javalkar, a junior; Holly Springs junior Grant Miller and senior Collin Carter; Panther Creek senior Ty Giggey and sophomore Aditya Kakkar; Athens Drive junior Andreas Combos and senior Mark Zaccardelli.

Combos and Zaccardelli defeated Cary senior Will Lake and sophomore Noah Jabusch 6-4, 6-7 (14-2) and 10-8 for the final spot.

This story was originally published April 21, 2015 at 8:17 PM with the headline "Stachowiak wins Southwest Wake singles; Green Hope duo wins doubles title."