Posted: Sat, 30 Oct 2010 08:49 AM - 9,166 Readers

By: Pat Turner

After winning a grueling 10-9 five-hour semifinals match over Alamo Heights on Saturday, Boerne Champion coach Joey Cantu was wondering if his team had enough energy to get through the finals later in the day.

The No. 3 Chargers had more than enough as they claimed their third straight Class 4A Region IV team tennis championship by outlasting top-seed Lake Travis 10-8 in a four-hour marathon at Blossom Athletic Center.

“This one is probably sweeter than the other two,” said Cantu, whose Chargers head to the Class 4A state tournament this weekend at World of Tennis at Lakeway. “We were the underdog, but we were ready to go.

“We were running out of gas there at the end. We did everything we could to win those matches. It was a long day, but it was an amazing day.”

Several players came up with key victories in both matches. However, Sydney Sachse and Annie Veron had a chance to experience a bigger thrill by clinching matches in girls' singles.

Sachse's opportunity came in the semifinals as her three-set victory enabled the Chargers to break the 9-9 tie and advance to the finals.

“Actually, Annie and I have talked about how we wanted to win the 10th match,” Sachse said. “It was crazy with the pressure, but that is what you live for in tennis. It was amazing, but we had other players contributing, too.”

Since Champion owned a 9-8 lead over Lake Travis, Veron was not under as much pressure as Sachse. But the situation was still nerve-wracking as Veron calmly carved out a 6-4, 7-6 (5) decision.

“I was so nervous,” Veron said. “I was getting tired and didn't know if I could do it. But I knew the score and I really wanted to go to state. I thought if I could pull this through it would really help us.”

Second-seeded New Braunfels won its third straight Class 5A Region IV title with a 10-1 thrashing of top seed Harlingen South in Corpus Christi.

New Braunfels' toughest match came in the semifinals when the Unicorns faced a 4-3 deficit to District 26-5A champion Churchill after doubles. The Unicorns recovered by sweeping the singles for an 11-4 win. Reagan, the 26-5A runnerup, lost a 10-8 decision to Harlingen South in the other semifinal match.

*  Story Contributed by: Pat Turner