The Thomas Jefferson Raiders boys tennis team couldn’t have asked for a better way to close out its season. Led by Head Coach Andrew Buchan, the Raiders captured their second consecutive district team title.

The Raiders also earned first and second in singles and first in doubles at the 3A West Central District tournament. For Buchan, it was the kind of performance he expected all season long.

“I would call this a great district tournament. The top players on our team stepped up big time,” Buchan said.

Thomas Jefferson entered the district tournament with more singles players and doubles teams than any other school — three singles players and three doubles teams qualified for the Raiders.

“This team is really close. They go out to dinner together, they play video games on the bus together, they like each other’s company,” Buchan said. “I think that’s critical when you have an individual sport — you have to find that team element, which is sometimes difficult.”

In singles, sophomore Wesley Curran swept through the bracket to claim the district title. Curran was nearly perfect, dropping only one game in the first round. He won the championship match after teammate and junior Jason Pham had to withdraw due to injury.

Raiders’ Wesley Curran shakes hands with Jason Pham after singles championship. Photo by Nathan Hyun

“I expected to win,” Curran said. “But I go in with a mindset of keeping my head down and being humble.”

In doubles, senior Vincent Pham and junior Dante Pham cruised through their first two matches without dropping a set. The championship match, however, was a different story.

Facing Enumclaw’s King Gisa and William Stuenkel, the Phams dropped the first set 5-7.

“We beat King and Will in NPSL leagues in straight sets, but this time, we knew it was going to be a lot harder to play them,” Dante said. “Indoors the ball’s a lot faster. There aren’t as many chances as possible to go to the net. During the first set we couldn’t find a rhythm at the net.”

The first set was just the start of a battle. In the second, both teams traded points before the Raiders took it in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (6).

“It was like a roller coaster. Regardless of the score or the result, I knew I was going to give my heart out on the court,” Vincent said.

In the third set, the Phams came out strong and never looked back, winning 6-1 to capture the district doubles title.

Vincent and Dante now turn their attention to state, hoping to deliver Buchan his first boys doubles state championship in the spring.

“Seven months is a long time, but that’s seven months we can get better,” Dante said. “Job’s not done. Like it’s a good win, but we’ve got to push to our goal of winning state,” Vincent said.

Buchan echoes that same focus. He says that districts were a necessary step to reach their goal, not the finish line.

“We’re not done yet,” he said. “Our goal is to win state. By winning here, we’ve put ourselves in a better position. We had competitive matches that will prepare us for what’s ahead.”

Elsewhere in the Federal Way School District, Decatur senior Vladimir Sharak earned a trip to state after grinding through the two-day tournament. “I’m super proud of him in his senior year,” Decatur boys tennis head coach Mo Anderson said. “Just seeing him progress from last year to this year, it’s great to see him go out like this.”

Sharak played five matches over two days. After winning his first, he dropped his second, sending him into the consolation bracket. From there, he battled through, winning his third match in a third-set tiebreaker, 10-6, to clinch a state berth.

Decatur’s Vladimir Sharak prepares to serve. Photo by Nathan Hyun

He lost his final match to Bellarmine Prep’s Josh Hulburt, 7-5, 6-2, to finish sixth and claim the final singles spot to state.

“It feels great, I knew this year would be different for me.” Sharak said. “I had a feeling I could make it to state. I knew the other league and they had some harder opponents, but in my head, I knew if I tried hard and pray to God, I could do it.”

In other area scores, Thomas Jefferson’s doubles team of senior Sanchit Sharma and sophomore Ian Lee clinched first alternate to state after beating Gig Harbor’s Avery Svabenik and Holling Svabenik. Todd Beamer’s singles player Andy Nguyen and Federal Way’s doubles team of Andrew Hyun and Kyle Chinn were eliminated on the first day.

The WIAA 3A boys tennis state tournament begins May 22 at the Vancouver Tennis Center in Vancouver, Washington.