The kids may have jumped around somewhat in their brackets of play but at the end of the day, many of the names who rose to the top at the SDSSAA Tennis Championships this week are very familiar ones.

A regular as boys singles champion, Lo-Ellen Park senior Noah Bulbring opted to move to the doubles game as he and stand-in partner Chenan Lyu went the maximum three games in knocking off schoolmates Daniel Kulik and Vishnu Nair in the final.

The move by Bulbring opened the door for friend and frequent singles opponent Luka Janicijevic to garner his first SDSSAA gold medal as the 17 year-old at Lasalle Secondary stopped Gerik Hnatiuk (Lo-Ellen) in the final.

“Noah generously decided on doubles,” noted Janicijevic, who will be moving on to the Life Sciences program at the University of Toronto next year in the hopes of pursuing a career in dentistry or orthodontics. “We knew that there was only one chance (only the top finisher in each bracket at SDSSAA is moving on to NOSSA) and we really wanted to go together.”

Though he was favoured to emerge as top dog, Janicijevic was taking nothing for granted.

“I was nervous but once I got on the court, that kind of went away and everything went really well,” he said. And in the end, it was the most simple approach possible that offered the greatest return – at least in the mind of Janicijevic.

“No matter what level of tennis you are playing, getting the ball in the court is always number one,” he said. “If you’re scrappy and you can get the ball in, that’s all you really need to play tennis.”

Though she hadn’t picked up a racquet in six months or so, Lo-Ellen senior Mya Nebre can certainly attest to that last statement, having been introduced to the sport in a club setting some six or seven years ago.

After competing in the girls singles event earlier in her high-school career and finishing second last year to repeat champion Annabelle Bulbring (Lo-Ellen), Nebre crossed over to the mixed doubles game this time around, securing the general athletic talents of Will Church as partner.

“For someone who has never really played tennis, he is doing really, really well,” said Nebre after she and the high-scoring basketball guard earned gold with a triumph in the final of Lockerby Composite siblings Logan and Kiersten Anderson.

“I don’t really have to say anything to him; he adapted really well.”

Rounding out the group of five champions was the Horizon Aigles girls doubles team of Emma Merigioli and Tessa Ranger, the latter having also won gold last year, albeit with now graduated boyfriend Justin Barriault in mixed doubles play. NOSSA takes place next week in North Bay.

Following are the top five in each of the five categories that were hosted at the Sudbury Indoor Tennis Centre on Thursday:

Girls Singles
1st - Annabelle Bulbring (LEP)
2nd - Emma Jensen (Champlain)
3rd - Amy Jaweszewski (ESMC)
4th - Salma Ibrahim (LEP)
5th - Dalia Belanger (Champlain)
5th - Mari Fukuda (Marymount)

Boys Singles
1st - Luka Janicijevic (Lasalle)
2nd - Gerik Hnatiuk (Lo-Ellen)
3rd - Cameron Vehkala (BAC)
4th - Owen Lamothe (St Charles)
5th - Brett Rienguette (St Charles)
5th - Brayden Schryer (Notre-Dame)

Girls Doubles
1st - Emma Merigioli / Tessa Ranger (Horizon)
2nd - Samantha Philips / Bailey Raymond (Notre-Dame)
3rd - Ava Gigliotti / Katie Shaver (ESMC)
4th - Kynlee Cresswell / Caedene Troscinski (BAC)
5th - Saya Mamada / Miki Nakaura (Marymount)
5th - Megan Pineau / Ewa Breckon (Lo-Ellen)

Boys Doubles
1st - Noah Bulbring / Chenan Lyu (Lo-Ellen)
2nd - Daniel Kulik / Vishnu Nair (Lo-Ellen)
3rd - Quin Mazzuchin / Ryan DiSalle (Lo-Ellen)
4th - Lucas Lessard / Jack Landry (BAC)
5th - Blake Chenier / Jacob Beaudet (Horizon)
5th - Hudson Goulet / Ryan Rinaldi (Horizon)

Mixed Doubles
1st - Mya Nebre / Will Church (Lo-Ellen)
2nd - Kiersten Anderson / Logan Anderson (Lockerby)
3rd - Cameron O'Daiskey / Gillis O'Daiskey (BAC)
4th - Delphine Bachand / Nicholas Bechard (Notre-Dame)
5th - Anna Cai / Jack Zhang (Lo-Ellen)
5th - Aiden Panella / Devun Panella (Lo-Ellen)