SALINA -- Andover’s Isaac Homan and Andrew Chan played like the favorites they were in the Class 5A doubles tournament, exuding more of a quiet confidence than an outward swagger.  

That approach served the Trojan duo well in the title match, with Chan and Homan remaining calm and steady en route to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s Trey Lacy and John Korfhage in the final at Salina Tennis Center. 

“That Kapaun team is a solid team and they feed off energy,” Andover coach Steve Alexander said. “I taught at Wichita North High, and I remember Barry Sanders when he was playing in the NFL, when he scored a touchdown he just went over to the official and handed him the football, because he expected to get in the end zone every time. 

“So I told my guys, it’s OK to give a fist pump every once in a while but you didn’t want to provide the Kapaun team with all the extra energy. So we were pretty subdued the whole match and that was purposeful.”

Homan and Chan helped lead Andover to the team championship. The Trojans had the title locked up early on Saturday and finished with 33 points, topping runner-up Bishop Carroll by 10 points. 

Homan, a senior, and Chan, a sophomore, stayed the course after trailing for a good chunk of the second set. They won the last three games to clinch the title and cap a 34-3 season in their first year playing together. 

“The big thing in that match was to keep calm, and that’s what we did the whole match,” Homan said. “We were able to keep our momentum. We just took it one point at a time. If we lost a point we wouldn’t let it drag us down.”

“When one of us is not playing as good, the other one is always there to bring each other up,” Chan said. 
 

 

The top-seeded Chan and Homan didn’t drop a set in the tournament. They beat Carroll’s Gabriel Weber and Braeden Dugan 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals while Kapaun’s Lacy and Korfhage (26-7) pulled out a 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) thriller against Andover Central’s Jaxon Post and Elias Kachelmeier in a match that was pushing 3 hours. 

“At the end of last season, (Chan and Homan) made the decision to work all offseason to make this doubles team that was pretty dominant all year,” Alexander said. “There is very little tennis coaching I have to do with them. It was just about making sure that they had that internal confidence that they’re the best team on the court no matter who they’re playing, and they really showed that throughout the whole tournament.

“The mental side of their game was really strong this year. I just don’t think they were going to let anybody beat them on the court.”
 

Andover’s No. 2 doubles team of seniors John Rather and Pierce Anderson took sixth place. 

“They really showed up all tournament,” Alexander said. “There’s some really talented doubles teams in this tournament and just getting out of that regional was a testament to them.”

Andover junior Lad Oborny added a seventh-place showing in singles. 

“Finishing in the top 10 in singles was impressive,” Alexander said. “You look at the four semifinalists in singles (Maize South's Evan Goates, Arkansas City's Dawson O'Donnell, Carroll's Brandon Steven, Blue Valley Southwest's Sanjay Rajkumar), all four of them were state-champion caliber players. Lad finishing seventh and John and Pierce finishing sixth, I couldn’t be prouder of the whole team.

“They really picked each other up and wanted to do well for not only themselves but for their teammates.”

It was Andover’s first team state championship since 2003. 

"I’m proud of everybody here,” Homan said. “I just love the feeling.”

“Our team accomplished big things this weekend,” Chan said. “We were favorites coming into this tournament, and yet we still did not let up, which was good to see.”

Alexander said the fact the Trojans qualified both doubles teams and a single player out of a loaded regional tournament made the state title even more rewarding. 

 “For any team to come out of that regional and get enough people here to state and win the state, it’s pretty impressive,” he said.  “Having both the girls state title and the boys title in the same year, it’s pretty special for Andover High and the athletic program. It just shows what kind of athletes we have at Andover High School.”

Andover Central’s Post and Elias Kachelmeier bounced back from their marathon loss in the semifinals to beat Carroll’s Weber and Dugan 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the third-place doubles match. 

CLASS 5A STATE TENNIS 

At Salina Tennis Center 

TEAM SCORES 

Andover 33, Bishop Carroll 23, Andover Central 21, St. James 20, Blue Valley Southwest 20, St. Thomas Aquinas 17, Maize South 16, Arkansas City 14, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 14, Newton 11, Valley Center 11, Piper 8, Eisenhower 7, Seaman 5, Lansing 3, Hays 2, Shawnee Heights 1, Topeka West 1. 

SINGLES 

Championship – Evan Goates, Maize South def. Dawson O’Donnell, Arkansas City, 6-1, 6-2. Third place – Brandon Steven, Bishop Carroll def. Sanjay Ranjkumar, Blue Valley Southwest, 6-0, 6-3. Fifth place – Eli Donaldson, St. James def. Henry Walker, Andover Central, 8-1. Seventh place – Lad Oborny, Andover def. Kyle King, Eisenhower, inj. def. Ninth place – Patrick Lacy, St. Thomas Aquinas def. Emilio Ormaza Cantos, Newton, 8-2. 11th place – Hudson Lawrence, Valley Center def. Brett Seal, St. Thomas Aquinas, 8-1. 

DOUBLES 

Championship – Andrew Chan/Isaac Homan, Andover, def. John Korfhage/Trey Lacy, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 6-3, 6-4. Third place – Jaxon Post/Elias Kachelmeier, Andover Central def. Gabe Weber/Braeden Dugan, Bishop Carroll, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4. Fifth place – Luke Niesen/Sam Niesen, St. James Academy def. John Rather/Pierce Anderson, Andover, 8-2. Seventh place – John Vogel/Baird Greenamyre, KC Piper def. Braxton Nicholson/Gabriel Shaffer, Valley Center, 8-6. Ninth place – Will Felski/Will Nash, St. Thomas Aquinas def. Saket Jagannath/Vidhu Reddy, Blue Valley Southwest, 8-6. 11th place – Jacob Cook/Nidhish Padmanaban, Blue Valley Southwest, def. Ike Christopher, Jacob Dennis, Lansing, 8-1.