The Helias Crusaders won their first boys tennis district title since 2019, defeating the Capital City Cavaliers 5-1 in Wednesday’s dual that decided the Class 2 District 5 Tournament championship at the Crusader Athletic Complex.
Helias, the No. 1 seed in the district, improved its season record to 17-2, the most wins in a single season in program history. The Crusaders will play at Barstow (11-2-2), the District 7 champion, either Monday or Tuesday in the Class 2 quarterfinals.
Gallery: Helias Boys Tennis vs. Capital City
Helias opened the district championship dual by winning two of the three doubles matches.
Jacob Zerr and Matthew Schepers won their doubles match 8-4 against Capital City’s Rahi Patel and Visshva Anto, while Ethan Foucheaux and Andrew Dowden defeated the Cavaliers’ Ethan McNutt and Jonathan Dunville 8-6.
Capital City’s doubles win came from Xander Schmid and Trevor Vogt, who defeated Helias’ Caleb Mueller and Jonah Lanigan 8-6.
Helias was able to clinch the dual win with three victories in singles play.
Foucheaux topped Dunville 6-0, 6-1 to remain undefeated in singles this season at 26-0, extending the Crusaders’ record for most singles wins in a season.
Schepers defeated Vogt 6-3, 6-1 and Zerr swept McNutt 6-3, 6-1 to finish the dual win for Helias.
At the time the match was clinched:
• Helias’ Matthew Liebsch and Schmid were playing in a match tiebreaker. Liebsch won the first set 6-0 and Schmid won the second set 6-4.
• Mueller and Patel were also deciding their matchup in a tiebreaker. Patel won the first set 6-2 and Mueller responded with a 6-4 win in the second set.
• Anto won his first set 7-5, but Dowden was leading the second set 2-1.
Capital City, the No. 3 seed in the district, finishes its season with a 10-10 dual record.