Calvert Hall tops McDonogh for first A Conference tennis championship since 2023
by James Peters
About midway through his No. 1 singles match in Thursday’s MIAA A Conference team finals, Calvert Hall ace Austin Chhun found himself more concerned with staying upright than with securing victory for not only himself but his squad.
In the end, Chhun accomplished all three things to help power top-seeded Calvert Hall to a 3-2 victory and the program’s first title since the 2023 season.
“The second set was awful,” Chhunn said. “I think it was around 3-2, I was up a break, I almost fell over when I was about to serve. I was so dizzy. I almost tanked the second set because I was kind of out of it, and then I managed to pull it out in the third.”
Austin’s 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 triumph over McDonogh’s Sky Amster took center stage as his teammates Francis Ceballos and David Susko won their matches at No. 2 and 3 singles, respectively, placing the Cardinals a victory away from completing a perfect season.
After conceding the lost second set, Chhun dominated the third set with numerous solid ground strokes and some unforced errors by his opponent. This made the final doubles match of the season, which concluded with a 12-10 winning set by the Eagles, a moot point, and clinched the title for the Cardinals (10-1 overall, 8-0 MIAA A, including playoffs).
Chhun, whose victory ended McDonogh’s hopes for back-to-back team titles said “It means a lot to me. For my seniors, I care a lot about them and for the team and my coaches.”
Susko cruised past Landon Tamaddon, 6-2, 6-2, to score Calvert Hall’s first win of the match, and Ceballos followed with a thunderous comeback after falling, 6-2, in the opening set to Gil Boker, only to rally to take the next two sets, 6-3, 6-1.
“Coach (David Mast) told me to fight to the very end, and that’s what I just did,” Ceballos said. “You’ve always got to believe in yourself when you're always down. I lost the first one. It was a pretty slow start, but the second set, I powered through.
“In the first set…I didn’t put any racquet speed on the ball, but in the second and third, I gained confidence when I hit my shots, and I think confidence is an important key to your match when you hit the ball hard.”
With those victories in hand and despite a loss at No. 1 doubles, as the McDonogh duo of David Barnstein and Raja Marwaha won 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, Mast and his squad could soak in the championship win as the No. 2 doubles played out in a thrilling three-set match.
“It came down to the wire all the way through,” Mast said. “I’m so proud of my guys for hanging in there and coming back. Just to come back is amazing against a very good McDonogh team. I’m just proud of my guys for their fight.”
It was a clean sweep for the Cardinals, who fell to McDonogh (7-2) in last year’s MIAA A final. Both regular season matches this year ended at 3-2.
“We just came in to fight to the last ball,” McDonogh coach Paul Azu said. “We just came up a little short. When crucial points happen under pressure, you have to step up. The ad-ins and love-30s are the ones that matter the most.”