By By DAN WEISS / Niles Daily Star
It stayed dry all day Friday but the Lakeland Conference tennis tournament still had to be moved inside, at both the South Bend, Ind. Racquet Club and the Lakeland Athletic Club.
Leeper Park in South Bend is the normal site of the tournament but construction at that facility forced the league's tennis teams to split up between the two indoor locations.
The location was no problem, however, for the Buchanan tennis team.
The Bucks, ranked No. 1 in Division 4, and the 10-time reigning league tournament champions, rolled to their 11th straight title by scoring 48 points.
The tournament was a two-way race as Edwardsburg finished in second place with 40 points, 13 ahead of Coloma. Berrien Springs took fourth with 25 while Brandywine finished fifth with 15 and Cassopolis finished sixth with eight.
Every championship match featured a Buchanan player or team against an Edwardsburg player or team. The Bucks swept the finals matches, however.
Buchanan senior Bryce Coward won his fourth league title by beating Edwardsburg's Josh Rogers 6-0, 6-0 in the title match.
Ryan Evick, Sean Jesse and A.J. Mottl also won singles titles for the Bucks. The Buchanan doubles teams of Chad VanLue and Brandon Schmeling, Alex Flood and Alex Gordon, Doug Summers and Mike Otwell and Dan Summers and Korey Camp each won the title in their respective flights.
Buchanan 48, Edwardsburg 40, Coloma 27, Berrien Springs 25, Brandywine 15, Cassopolis 8
Championship round
Singles: 1. Bryce Coward (BU) beat Josh Rogers (E) 6-0, 6-0; 2. Ryan Evick (BU) beat Jon Rogers (E) 6-1, 6-2; 3. Sean Jesse (BU) beat Seth Proctor (E) 6-0, 6-2; 4. A.J. Mottl (BU) beat Kevin Kidder (E) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles: 1. Chad VanLue/Brandon Schmeling (BU) beat Nate Hefner/Brian Davis (E) 6-0, 6-3; 2. Alex Flood/Alex Gordon (BU) beat Matt Horvath/Garrett Miller (E) 6-0, 6-0; 3. Doug Summers/Mike Otwell (BU) beat Ryan Mitchell/Tim Pelmear (E) 6-1, 6-0; 4. Dan Summers/Korey Camp (BU) beat Nate Gabbard/Josh Marschke (E) 6-2, 6-3