Division I Boys tennis: Avon's Logan DeHaven and the doubles team of Luke LeMaster and A.J. Sidoti defend sectional titles

AVON — One of Avon's title defenses was straightforward, the other a marathon. Logan DeHaven cruised to his second straight singles championship while the doubles team of Luke LeMaster and A.J. Sidoti needed 22 games and a tiebreak to defend theirs at the Division I Magnificat sectional Saturday. Play began at Magnificat, but was moved to Avon Oaks Country Club after an hour of play because of rain. Avon's Jay Kneiss and Avon Lake's Marc Grozav both placed in singles and will join the trio at the Springside district tournament in Akron, which begins Thursday. DeHaven had reached the sectional final for the third straight year and improved his singles record to 22-1 with a pair of wins. He lost only one game in his first four matches before defeating St. Ignatius' Luke Bennett 6-1, 6-3 in the championship. "It feels great because being a one seed opens up a ton of opportunities," said DeHaven, who has 82 career singles wins. "It really sets you up for a lot of opportunity, which is exciting because making it to the state draw is definitely the goal and highlight of the season." LeMaster and Sidoti also lost only one game in their first four matches, but Rohit Jain and Xander Jhaveri — the No. 2 seed from Westlake — gave the defending champions all they could handle. While neither team got a break in the first set, both teams had a chance to do so in the final two games. Avon had set point leading 6-5, but Jhaveri managed to serve his way out of trouble with the help of Jain's strong net play. The Demons then had two break chances on Sidoti's ensuing serve, but LeMaster came up with a smash and Westlake committed an error, getting Avon out of the jam. The Eagles won the final four points of the tiebreak to take the first set. "We just had to stay confident and block out the nerves," Sidoti said. "That really helped us close out that last game being down 40-15. We just stayed positive." Westlake came up with a break on Sidoti's serve to take a 2-1 lead, only for Avon to break back on Jhaveri's to keep things on serve with Avon leading 5-4. The Eagles finally got to Jain with the aid of a double fault, winning the next two points to close out the match. "This feels even better than the first time," LeMaster said. "We adjusted to two back (against Rohit's serve) and that made a major difference. We just kept it simple and tried to get our returns over the net." Grozav opened the day with a roller-coaster semifinal against Bennett. The first two sets were played outdoors at Magnificat with Grozav winning the first 6-0. Bennett bounced back, however, breaking Grozav on his final two service games to take the second 6-3. Rain paused the match for about 50 minutes as they relocated inside. Grozav broke Bennett twice to take a 2-1 lead and held strong until Bennett broke back to tie the set at four. He led 40-0 on his serve before Grozav rattled off six of the next seven points to steal the game and the break. Grozav had two chances to serve for the match and Bennett broke him each time. The Avon Lake sophomore won six straight points in the tiebreak to secure three match points, two on his serve, but Bennett responded with the last five points. "It was constantly break after break," Grozav said of the third set. "I was up 5-4 on my serve and 6-3 in the tiebreak. Those were opportunities I had to win, but I can't change it. I have to finish games when I have my serve." Kneiss shook off a 12-game loss against DeHaven to take third 6-4, 7-6 (3) against Grozav. The Avon junior built a 6-2 lead in the tiebreak. "I wanted to make it here, so it feels good to make it here," Kneiss said. "And at the same time, this is what I expected for myself so I'm glad I executed and I hope to do well there. My backhand has been a problem this whole tournament, and I need to trust my forehand more." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com and follow him @CSweeney1686 on Twitter. SINGLES: Championship — Logan DeHaven (Avon) def. Luke Bennett (St. Ignatius), 6-1, 6-3. Third place — Jay Kneiss (Avon) def. Marc Grozav (Avon Lake), 6-4, 7-6 (3). Semifinals — DeHaven def. Kneiss, 6-0, 6-0; Bennett def. Grozav, 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) DOUBLES: Championship — Luke LeMaster-A.J. Sidoti (Avon) def. Rohit Jain-Xander Jhaveri (Westlake A), 7-6 (3), 6-4. Third place — Brady Chapman-Arjun Arumugam (Olmsted Falls) def. Yikun Zhou and Rishabh Ranjan (Westlake B), 7-5, 6-3. Semifinals — Avon def. Westlake B, 6-0, 6-1; Westlake A def. Olmsted Falls, 6-2, 6-3