Men’s Tennis Caps “Incredible Roll” to Capture Gold

For the first time in 16 years, the men’s tennis team is at the top of the state. The Falcons traveled to the Burlington Tennis Center and took home the state championship title with a 5-2 win over Green Hope on May 15.

This massive victory breaks a championship drought that goes back to 2010, making this group one of the most successful teams in school history.

“We knew that we were gonna win before we even played,” Vikram Premakumar, a singles player, said referring to the third head-to-head match with rival Green Hope. Each team won one of the previous meetings.

The state title capped off a perfect postseason run where the Falcons also won the Quad City 7 Conference Championship and the Western Regional Championship in Charlotte. According to Athletic Director Antonio King, the team has been on "an incredible roll" thanks to their depth and hard work under pressure.

Men’s tennis team posing after their victory

The road to the team title actually started with individual success a few

days earlier, when Jordan’s top duo of James Barrow and Sebastian Mazur won the individual doubles state championship, capping an undefeated season for the duo. “It was pretty sweet! There were a lot of emotions,” Barrow said.

The pair dominated their Green Hope opponents 8-0 in their doubles match. The Falcons also took care of business in singles play, getting huge wins from Mazur (6-0, 6-4), Barrow (6-2, 6-4), Bryant Ross (7-6, 6-0), and Premakumar, who won a close, tiebreaker match (6-4, 2-6, 10-6). Because of his play, Mazur was named the state championship MVP, while Premakumar won the sportsmanship award.

A lot of the credit for turning the program into a champion goes to 25-year coach Steve Rothchild and Assistant Coach Tiffanie Hoover, who kept the players focused while a packed fan bus of student and families traveled to Burlington to cheer them on.

Bryant Ross in the motion of a serve

“We had a feeling from the start of the season that this team was going to be special,” Hoover said. “Watching them win the state championship felt like the perfect ending to

an incredible season. I could not be prouder of them.”

Next year, the Falcons will return half of the six starters from this year’s championship team. Coach Rothchild shares, “It is very exciting and a little overwhelming, to bring a state title to Jordan. I’m very happy for the players, who all worked so hard. I’d also like to thanks those students, parents, and administrators who came out to support us during the finals.”