JUNCTION CITY — For the second straight year, Blue Valley West entered the 6A state tournament with an undefeated No. 1 seed in both the singles and doubles bracket.

The Jaguars narrowly missed out on a perfect finish with a sweep of the singles, doubles and team state titles a season ago when their doubles team lost in the finals.

With both of those players returning this year ready to rectify those results, although not as partners this time around, Blue Valley West pulled off the quest for perfection.

Blue Valley West sophomore Anish Poojari clinched the 6A singles state title while senior Francisco Landeras and junior Aarya Anjankar locked down the doubles title May 17 at Junction City High School.

Those performances helped key the Jaguars to a total of 55 points in the team race, giving them a sizable advantage over runner-up Shawnee Mission East at 39 points. Blue Valley Northwest took third with 23 points.

Not only did Blue Valley West clinch the three-peat with this year's state title, but the Jaguars also swept all three titles in 6A for the first time. The program previously swept all three titles in 5A in 2015, when Max Kurzban won the singles title while Hunter Sanderas and Ryan Moody won the doubles title.

Blue Valley West also won 6A state titles in 2017 and 2018. In 2018, Bruno Serra and Rafael Serra battled each in the first all-Jaguars finals in singles. Bruno won 6-3, 6-3 that year.

Blue Valley West won those first three state titles under then-head coach Traci Rhodes. Alec Bergeron took over both Jaguars' tennis programs in 2021, helming the three most recent state titles.

Landeras and Anjankar were not only trying to complete the perfect season as the top seed in the doubles bracket, but they were also looking to close out the season without having dropped a single set.

Landeras and Anjankar had achieved that through their first 15 matches of this season. 

But in the finals, Shawnee Mission East senior Jake Hanson and sophomore Christopher Long put the top-seeded 6A doubles team on the ropes by winning a 7-5 opening set.
 

Hanson and Long looked primed to complete the upset as they took a 2-1 lead in the second set.

But that’s when Landeras and Anjankar showed the dominance they’ve shown in every other match this season.

Anjankar said he and Landeras enter the final more focused on not losing then they were on winning.

"Even though we knew we were the better players on paper and we'd beaten them handily before, we just didn't go out there to win," Anjankar said. "We made a critical change at the start of the second set where we just played lights out and then we took it on from there."

The Jaguars’ duo reeled off wins in 11 straight games to close out their 5-7, 6-2, 6-0 victory, clinching the doubles state title and finishing off their team’s sweep of this year’s 6A state titles.

“I got my revenge from last year,” Anjankar said.
 

In last year’s doubles final, Anjankar and Poojari lost a heartbreaker against Shawnee Mission East’s Gregor Wiedeman and George Kahl. After losing the opening set 7-6 (7-5), the Jaguars responded with a 6-4 win in the second set. They even led in the third set before ultimately losing 7-6 (8-6) in another tiebreaker.

“But I got the state title this year with my great partner, Pakito,” Anjankar said.

Anjankar credits Pakito, a nickname for Landeras which is a shortened form of his first name, with helping him learn how to get psyched up for big points in matches.

“One thing Pakito helped me do is raise my energy levels during matches,” Anjankar said. “Just be very focused and very energetic throughout every match, no matter who we play. That’s one thing I didn’t used to do a lot, cheer after big points and fist bump every time. 

“But Pakito helped me find that side of me.”
 

Still, it is clear both during and after their finals match that Landeras is the one who is the most naturally energetic and celebratory of the two. 

“Our energy levels were the most important thing,” Landeras said. “We knew in the first set, they played amazing and we were like, ‘Oh, will they sustain this level?’ We just kept our composure, relaxed, because they have been playing exceptional this whole season. 

“Our main goal was to stay calm and just know that this was going to happen before the match. Just dealing with the adversity, every point that comes our way.”

On match point, Landeras closed it out with a volley and immediately launched into the air, bouncing up and down multiple times before launching into a hug with Anjankar.

For Landeras, this is his second straight undefeated season. He won the 6A state title in singles last year. Although he’s been perfect for the last two years, he started his high school journey with a state runner-up finish and third-place finish in his freshman and sophomore seasons.

When Blue Valley West won its first state title in 2023, Poojari’s brother Akki and David Han won the doubles title while Landeras took third in singles. He lost in the semifinals to Blue Valley North’s CJ Smith, who would go on to win in the finals over another Jaguar, Jonah Stolte.

While Landeras won the singles title last year, Poojari and Anjankar lost in the doubles final against Shawnee Mission East’s Gregor Wiedeman and George Kahl. Wiedeman beat Landeras in the singles final at state in 2022.

"It feels amazing after my sophomore year, my loss against CJ Smith in the semifinals," Landeras said. "I was really, really sad and I just told myself that if you don't learn from these mistakes, these moments won't happen.

"Junior year, my mindset coming in was 'I'm not going to lose. I'm not going to lose even a set. I'm going to be on lockdown mode and just know that I'm going to lock in on every single point.' Treat it like it matters, kind of like my idol Rafael Nadal."

After rising up to win the singles title with an undefeated record last year, Landeras decided to try his hand at doubles this season.

“I wanted to mix it up because I’m going to college next year and I’m more of a singles player,” Landeras said. “Playing doubles this year helped make my game more complete.”
 

Landeras, who will play tennis at Drake University next year, said he’s been more of “a grinder from the baseline” in years past. This season, he got more reps using touch at the net, drop shots, slices, and overheads.

With Landeras slated for doubles, the only thing up in the air was whether Landeras would play alongside Anjankar or Stolte. Landeras had years of experience playing doubles with both players, even if their indecision during this season split his reps between the two different pairings this spring.

Landeras and Stolte put together an 7-0 record in doubles this year, playing mostly in the latter stages of April.

Landeras went 25-0 on the year, winning one singles match and 24 doubles matches, which included a 7-0 record with Stolted and a win with Poojari.
 

Poojari completed a perfect 23-0 campaign on his way to winning the 6A state title in singles. He earned a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Stolte in an all-Jaguars final.

Poojari reached the semifinals by only dropping two games, both in a 6-1, 6-1 win over Mill Valley freshman Dalton Parde during the quarterfinals. He needed just a little more time to put away Olathe South sophomore Nolan Fosha, winning 6-3, 6-2.

But that result was still fast enough to position Poojari well for the finals, no matter which player won in the other semifinals match.

To reach the finals, Stolte had to overcome Blue Valley Northwest senior Luke Pennington in the other semifinal. Pennington got the nod over Stolte in the same round last year, as well as in multiple matches earlier this season.

In their previous state match, Stolte took the first set 6-4, before Pennington responded by winning back-to-back sets 6-3, 7-5. This year, Pennington earned a 8-7 (2) victory over Stolte during a May 3 tournament, followed by a 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 victory in the semifinals at regionals.

This time around, Stolte started their match by hurting his shoulder during a serve early on in the first set. After getting checked by trainers and given the OK to return to the court, Stolte proceeded to serve underhand for the rest of the match.

Despite this setback, Stolte pulled out a 7-5 victory in the first set. Pennington fired right back with a 6-3 win in the second. Stolte ended up controlling the third set on the way to a 6-2 victory.
 

None of Stolte’s teammates seemed all that surprised by how he was able to grind out that semifinal victory.

“I definitely expected that,” Poojari said. “I knew how much confidence he had. He had some great swings in practice and he wanted it bad.”

Landeras added that he thought the underhand serve ultimately benefited Stolte against Pennington’s style of play.

“It was changing pace and Luke had to adjust his return position,” Landeras said. “He missed a couple returns. (Stolte) had some forehand underhand, some slices, kind of mixing up the pace so Luke doesn’t know what’s coming.

“(Stolte) was also playing more aggressive, he’s playing deeper and it looked like he wanted it a lot more this time.”

After the long battle with Pennington, Stolte still had enough left in the tank to push Poojari early in the final. Poojari remained locked in through the long rallies, pulling out a 6-3 set before clinching his state title with a 6-0 second set.

“I tried to grind with him and break him down,” Poojari said. “Eventually my main goal is just to make as many balls as I can, let them beat themselves.”
 

Poojari noted that his seeding has been a big benefit when facing either Stolte and Pennington in the finals of postseason tournaments this year.

“I was really fortunate that every time I played them, they were both gassed,” Poojari said. “They were battling themselves.”

Poojari acknowledged that the undefeated records from the Jaguars’ champions in both brackets makes it seem like the team, outside of Stolte’s injury, were able to avoid adversity this season.

But he also thinks this team prepares itself well with the adversity they face battling in practice with this deep roster.

“We have eight super solid guys,” Poojari said. “The two people who don’t make the regionals team, it’s always a tough feeling. Then you have Aarya and Jonah battling it out for the second singles spot. It’s just super tough when we have such a competitive team.”

Blue Valley West’s other doubles team of senior Ethan Kumar and sophomore Ishaan Musti took fourth place. They lost to Shawnee Mission East sophomores Aiden Bush and Christian Clough in the third-place match.

CLASS 6A STATE TENNIS

At Junction City High School

TEAM SCORES

Blue Valley West 55, Shawnee Mission East 39, Blue Valley Northwest 23, Maize 16, Olathe South 13, Manhattan 13, Shawnee Mission South 12, Olathe Northwest 12, Washburn Rural 8, Mill Valley 7, Lawrence 6, Free State 5, Topeka High 5, Olathe East 4, Wichita East 3, Blue Valley 2, Garden City 2, Derby 1, Dodge City 1, Gardner Edgerton 1, Liberal 1, Wichita Heights 0.

SINGLES

Championship — Anish Poojari, Blue Valley West def. Jonah Stolte, Blue Valley West, 6-3, 6-0.
Third place — Luke Pennington, Blue Valley Northwest def. Nolan Fosha, Olathe South, 0-6, 6-3, 6-0. Fifth place — Brody Feldman, Shawnee Mission East def. Hayden Herrera, Maize, 8-1. Seventh place — James Hoke, Manhattan def. Dalton Parde, Mill Valley, 8-6. Ninth place — Jun Brewer, Lawrence def. Aidan Lashley, Shawnee Mission East, 8-3. 11th place — Advith Natarajan, Manhattan def. Beau Adamson, Wichita East, 8-6.

DOUBLES

Championship — Aarya Arjankar/Francisco Landeras, Blue Valley West def. Jake Hanson/Christopher Long, Shawnee Mission East, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0. Third place — Ryder Heaven/Carson Mower, Shawnee Mission South def. Krrish Sanjanwala/Srinivasa Vel, Blue Valley Northwest, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Fifth place — Aiden Bush/Christian Clough, Shawnee Mission East def. Ishaan Musti/Ethan Kumar, Blue Valley West, 8-1. Seventh place — Dylan Willingham/Cale Deutscher, Washburn Rural def. Bryan Branstrom/Aidan Messerly, Olathe Northwest, 8-4. Ninth place — Alec Grill/Wyatt Nicol, Maize def. William Stewart/Mitchell Terhune, Olathe Northwest, 8-6. 11th place — Jackson Hyer/Jackson Janeway, Olathe East def. Alexander Raymond/Christian Sink, Topeka, 8-4.