Christian Kirby and Alexander Boyer switched tennis partners throughout the year due to injuries around the team, but they found chemistry fast when they started playing together.

“They meshed pretty quickly, usually that takes a while,” Hendricken head coach Stephen Crawford said. “It didn’t take too long. They got moved from partner to partner and never whined about it and it was whatever was best for the team. And when it became a situation where they had to partner up together it just clicked and I left it alone.”

That was a wise choice as Kirby and Boyer delivered the state doubles title to Hendricken. It was the first time in eight years that the doubles championship wasn’t claimed by South Kingstown.

The duo had to upend the Rebels to get to the finals, too. Boyer and Kirby took down South Kingstown 7-6, 6-7, 6-1 to set a date with Wheeler in the championship match. 

That test in the semifinals would put the seniors in prime position for the title, as they dispatched Wheeler’s Peter Pond and Simon Redfern 6-1, 6-0 for the trophy.

“They were the 1 and 2 in terms of never missing practice,” Crawford said. “Their attitude has just been tremendous and we had a lot of injuries and reasons why we had to keep juggling things around every time we played. They’re very complementary together. They each provided what the other guy didn’t have.”

Crawford said it will be tough to replace Boyer and Kirby on and off the court.

“I’d start with their character and their attitude,” Crawford said. “You don’t find better people than Christian and Alexander. And then their talent, they were rolling down the home stretch. They weren’t gonna be stopped.”

-J.M.

COACH OF THE YEAR

Stephen Crawford, Hendricken

ALL CITY TEAM

Chad Doorley, BH

Aditya Kini, BH

Michael Bittner, BH

Nick Mattioli, TG

Henri Snyman, TG

Geoffrey Boyer, BH

Kenneth Lee, BH

Frank Gramlich, BH

Duncan Hart, TG