Zach Nicholson knew exactly what to expect.
DeMatha’s talented sophomore had beaten O’Connell sophomore Milo Barajas-Alexander twice this season. Nicholson had no intention of making the third time the charm for his rival. Especially not in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference No. 1 singles final.
After weathering a fast start from Barajas-Alexander, Nicholson settled down and cruised to a 10-6 victory to win the championship on Thursday afternoon at the College Park Tennis Center.
“It didn’t matter at all that I had beaten him before. That was only going to make Milo want to beat me even more,” Nicholson said. “I’m a pretty intense player anyway. But if I didn’t play like that he was going to win. And I do not like losing.”
Nicholson’s victory helped DeMatha to a second-place team finish with 21 points. Gonzaga (D.C.), which had five players reach the singles finals, won the team championship with 51 points and O’Connell took third with 19 points. All five Gonzaga players who reached their seed’s championship match won. The Eagles also swept all three championship doubles matches.
Nicholson rose from the Stags No. 4 singles slot last season to win the title. A former top-ranked player in the United States Tennis Association’s Mid-Atlantic region rankings, Nicholson, 16, saw his ranking slide as he stepped up another age group and took time away from the circuit’s tournaments to rework his game. But he is quickly returning to form this season, rising to No. 15 in the latest USTA Mid-Atlantic rankings published April 18.
Nicholson, who is now 19-0, beat Barajas-Alexander by scores of 10-2 and 10-3 during the regular season. DeMatha and O’Connell split those two meetings, both winning with scores of 5-4.
“I’ve done a good job of staying focused this season,” Nicholson said. “Because there are definitely times when I can get a little too intense. But I haven’t fallen behind in too many matches so far.”
Barajas-Alexander is now 15-4 and finished as the runner-up in the No. 1 singles final for the second straight year. In 2005 he lost to DeMatha’s Aaron Carr, a three-time WCAC No. 1 singles champion and an All-Examiner pick in Maryland last year. Carr now plays tennis at the University of Maryland.
“My head just wasn’t in it like it needed to be,” said Barajas-Alexander, himself a first-team All-Examiner selection in Virginia last season. “You can’t give up easy points when you’re playing someone like Zach because he wasn’t giving up anything. But that’s what happened to me.”
DeMatha had two other singles finalists in Eric Ward at No. 3 and John Collins at No. 2. Both fell in close matches. Ward lost to Gonzaga’s Eric Chavous, 10-7, while Collins was beaten 10-8 by Gonzaga’s Andrew Ortiz. Nicholson teamed with Pat Dennin to reach the No. 2 doubles final, where Chavous and Paul Debs earned a 10-4 victory.
Serve and volley
» O’Connell had a shot at catching DeMatha for second place in the tournament’s final match. But Gonzaga’s No. 3 doubles team of Alex Wiese and Daris Mattison beat the Knights’ tandem of Jordan Freeman and Lawrence Franco, 10-0.
» All nine of the championship matches held Thursday were decided by two games or more. Each match involves one superset, where the first individual or doubles team to reach 10 games wins.
» O’Connell’s Chris Miller at No. 6 singles and Jordan Freeman at No. 4 singles both dropped 10-4 decisions to Gonzaga’s Johann Wiese and Paul Debs, respectively. The Knights’ Lawrence Franco fell to Gonzaga’s Pat Knise, 10-8, at No. 5 singles.
