Fueled by consistency, unity and perseverance, the CCS high school and middle school tennis teams have rallied their way to championship titles.   

The high school team, including 16 varsity players and four junior varsity players, brought home the top prize at the Division I T-CAL State Championship on April 8 in Beaumont. The middle school team capped an undefeated regular season with a first-place finish to become ISAL champions on April 15.   

The victories come under the leadership of head coach Philip Reichle, assistant coaches Anthoney Gonzalez and Emily Reed, and volunteer assistant coach Caleb Reichle. 

This is middle school’s second ISAL championship in two years. The high school team won state championships in 2022, 2024, 2025, and now, 2026. 

“This is my third (high school) state championship as head coach,” Reichle said. “It gets sweeter every year because we made a lot of sacrifices and faced a lot of adversity throughout the year, whether it's dealing with rain or cold weather or teaching the intangibles like respect and sportsmanship.” 

“Our players have amazing respect and sportsmanship,” Reichle added. “It's something we as coaches have worked hard to drill, and something we are most proud of in our players.” 

In addition, the high school team secured four state champions: mixed doubles team - Maximo Gonzalez and Lila Palmore; girls doubles team - Emma Morrey and Aranza Carbonell; boys doubles team - Colsten Moede and Diego Gaona; and girls singles - Allison Cabe. Leading the way for middle school was the doubles team of Chandler Kuschnerait and Tyler Gradeless, who dominated the doubles bracket to become the ISAL doubles champion. 

Consistency and unity are key to the success of CCS’s three tennis teams, Reichle said. The teams practice over the summer and start preparing in August for state finals. They do reps “day in and day out” and must build endurance to play matches all day long. 

“Tennis is a sport where you are using athleticism, strategy, mental clarity, and assessing points and shots at a high rate of speed, quickly analyzing where to place your next shot based on strategy,” Reichle said. “It's very much a mental game as much as a highly physical game.” 

“Last August, I told the team that the goal is to win state,” he said. “Mission accomplished!”

Photos courtesy Philip Reichle