JOURNAL STAFF
After defending his Division III regional doubles championship with Brannigan Bissell and then getting to the quarterfinals of the state tournament, Loyola’s Sanders Graf is the Outstanding Player of the 2022 SBJ All-Metro Boys’ Tennis Team.
“Sanders combines good groundstrokes with great court awareness, which makes him an exceptional doubles player,” said Loyola coach Mike Mawhinney.
Mawhinney, who led the Flyers to the regional championship and a tie for fourth place at the state tournament, takes the Coach of the Year honors on the inaugural All-Metro team. All of the Loyola boys’ team qualified for the state tournament. Players who made it to the quarterfinals of the regional tournaments qualified for their state championships.
“We had pretty good depth on the boys’ team,” said Mawhinney. “Everybody went to state. They all made it. I was very pleased to take the whole team to state.”
The All-Metro team, chosen with input from Shreveport-Bossier coaches, consists of six singles players and three doubles teams and is based on their performance in regional and state championships.
The “Best of the Rest” is for those who were given strong consideration for the first team. All players are listed in alphabetical order according to their school.
ALL-METRO BOYS’ TENNIS TEAM:
Singles:
Drew Kolniak (Fr.), Airline: Division I regional champion
Cayden Simmons (Jr.), Calvary: Division IV state quarterfinalist
Hayden McFarlain (Sr.), Captain Shreve: Division I regional quarterfinalist
Alex Jayroe (8th), Evangel: Division I state quarterfinalist
Zach Haley (Sr.), Haughton: Division II regional runner-up; state quarterfinalist
Ravi Ahuja (Fr.), Loyola: Division III regional champion
Doubles:
Zach Hicks (Sr.)/Jake Brown (Jr.), Calvary: Division IV state runners-up; regional champions
Brannigan Bissell (Sr.)/Sanders Graf (Jr.), Loyola: Division III regional champions; state quarterfinalists
Patrick Gooszen (Sr.)/Charles Valiulis (Jr.), Loyola: Division III regional runners-up; state quarterfinalists
Outstanding Player: Sanders Graf, Loyola
Coach of the Year: Mike Mawhinney, Loyola
BEST OF THE REST
Singles:
Madden Sawrie (So.), Airline: Division I regional quarterfinalist
Alex Gonzales (Sr.), Benton: Division II regional quarterfinalist
Stander Olsan (Jr.), Loyola: Division III regional quarterfinalist
Doubles:
Ronit Ahluwalia (So.)/Carter Priestly (So.), Airline: Division I regional quarterfinalists
Ethan Hood (Sr.)/Daniel Wright (Jr.), Caddo Magnet: Division II regional quarterfinalists
Thach Chau (Jr.)/Marshall O’Callaghan (So.), Caddo Magnet: Division II regional quarterfinalists
Chase Stripland (Sr.)/Miles Williams (Sr.), Calvary: Division IV regional quarterfinalists
Mason Batts (Jr.)/Bryce Colvin (7th), Calvary: Division IV regional quarterfinalists
James Auer (Jr.)/Mark Quarles (Fr.), Captain Shreve: Division I, regional quarterfinalists
Bo Bowman (Jr.)/Gregor Ghali (Jr.), Loyola: Division III regional quarterfinalists