By Tom Schardin, Staff Writer

The Burnsville boys tennis team has earned the No. 4 seed in the 13-team Section 3AA team tournament

The Blaze received a bye in the first round and will open up quarterfinal action at home against fifth-seeded Eastview Thursday, May 15 at 3:30 p.m.

Burnsville and Eastview will also close out the conference season in a match on Friday, May 9 at 3:30 p.m.

“We are in a very competitive section,” said Blaze coach Bruce Anderson. “The competition will be very tough for us. We’re no longer in a section with Edina and that’s good. But this section has a lot of good teams in it, as well.”

Edina has been the state’s perennial power over the last two decades having won 10 state titles since 1987.

There are three teams ranked in the state’s top 10 in the Section 3AA field: No. 4 Henry Sibley, No. 8 Eagan and No. 9 Apple Valley. They are also the top three seeds, respectively.

Complete section brackets can be found at www.mshsl.org. Other teams in the field included sixth-seeded Woodbury, Bloomington Jefferson, Bloomington Kennedy, Park/Cottage Grove, Rosemount, St. Thomas Academy, Simley and South St. Paul.

Burnsville (7-5 overall, 6-3 in the Lake Conference) went 0-3 against the top three teams in the section this spring, including a 4-3 loss to Eagan on May 7.

The match came down to No. 3 doubles. Senior Max Woxlund and junior Patrick Rogers won the first game (7-6), lost by the same score in the second set, before falling 6-4 in the decisive set.

So the Blaze proved it can play with the top teams in the section, in spit of the loss.

Earning wins against Eagan for the Blaze was ninth-grader Nazhone Wilkins at No. 2 singles (6-2, 6-0), the No. 1 doubles team of seniors Brian Jahnke and Jeff Devich (6-3, 6-4) and the No. 2 doubles team of senior Michael Laurin and junior Brad Simon (6-4, 7-5).

“We had a good chance to win that match,” said Anderson. “Max and Patrick were up 4-2 in the second set and just couldn’t close it out.”

The Blaze headed into the Eagan match on the heels of a 6-1 conference victory over Lakeville South on May 5. The team also split two non-conference matches, beating Holy Angels 6-1 on May 3 and losing to Minnetonka 5-2 on May 1.

Against Lakeville South, the Blaze dominated the singles, winning all four matches.

Sophomore Mya Smith-Dennis won 6-0, 6-0 at first singles, while Wilkins and senior Sam Havlik won by the same margin at second and third singles, respectively.

At No. 4 singles, senior Sergio Alvarez won 6-2, 7-5.

At second doubles, Laurin and Simon won 6-3, 6-2, while Woxlund and Rogers won 6-2, 6-4 at third doubles.

The Blaze also swept all four singles matches against Holy Angels.

Smith-Dennis won 6-1, 6-1 at the top spot, followed by wins from Wilkins (6-2, 6-0), Havlik (6-1, 6-1) and senior Wes Stockwell (6-2, 6-2).

At second doubles, Laurin and Simon won in three sets (7-5, 2-6, 6-2), while Woxlund and Rogers won at third doubles (6-2. 6-4).

Burnsville’s two wins in the loss to Minnetonka came from Smith-Dennis at No. 1 singles (6-1, 6-4) and Wilkins at second singles (6-1, 7-5).

Burnsville will travel to Hopkins on Saturday, May 10 for non-conference match. The Blaze will close out the regular season on Monday, May 12 when it plays at Orono at 3:30 p.m., which is a makeup from April 18.

The section individual tournament will start May 23 with the finals for singles and doubles set for May 28.

This year’s state tournament is set for June 3-6 at the Baseline Tennis Center on the University of Minnesota campus. Rochester Mayo is the defending state champion.