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Mounds View tops Edina in boys' tennis showdown

By JIM PAULSEN, Star Tribune

Last update: May 7, 2008 - 10:12 PM

Wednesday was one of those sun-soaked spring days tailor-made for a high school sporting event. Yet the abysmal weather that has dominated so much of the spring was still felt at the Edina Community Center, where No. 1, Class 2A Edina played host to No. 2 Mounds View in the biggest boys' tennis match of the season.

The two teams are loaded with top-line players, but, as so often happens in team tennis, the result hinged on the match at No. 3 doubles.

Mounds View's pairing of freshman Max Schaper and sophomore Kevin Arthur outlasted Edina juniors Jeff Rosner and Eric Liu 6-4, 6-7 (10-8), 6-1, giving the Mustangs the 4-3 victory.

And that's where the weather factor entered in. In team tennis, the coaches' main focus is on doubles, which are frequently manned by youngsters and newcomers. Coming up with the right player pairings and getting them time to practice together can be the difference between a good team and a great one.

"We've had 11 cancellations and only three practices this year," Mounds View coach Mike Cartwright said. "So, of course, I just knew this match would come down to third doubles."

But a lack of familiarity did not hurt Schaper and Arthur, who were playing together for just the second time this season and were not aware that their match was the deciding one.

"I thought we had already lost," Schaper said. "There wasn't much cheering going on."

Mounds View won three of the four singles matches, highlighted by freshman Wyatt McCoy's 6-2, 6-0 victory over Edina's Hamish Weera-singhe in a battle of undefeated players at No. 1 singles.