When the Mercer Island boys tennis team wrapped up KingCo tournament play Oct. 11, the Islander players accomplished a few things that no other boys tennis team had done since head coach Ryan Pang took the helm four years ago.

Mercer Island finished the regular season undefeated in conference and nonconferece play, with records of 7-0 in KingCo and 11-0 overall. The Islanders also walked away with both the league’s top singles and doubles seeds heading into the seven-month break before the district tournament picks back up in May. Zach Chew won out in the KingCo tournament in singles competition, while Christian Anderson and Chris Elliott defeated teammates Kevin Chen and Jonah Tang to take the top doubles seed.

In a storied boys tennis program that boasts 24 state championships and that is gunning for its seventh-straight 3A state title this year, such achievements may not generate quite the buzz they would in other programs. Dominating the doubles bracket at the KingCo championships is nothing new for Mercer Island. But winning out all of its matches during the season and boasting the league’s top singles player? Those are new feats for Pang and his squad.

Acknowledging how special such accomplishments are, that may be another matter.

“I guess [this season] is special in the fact that we played Newport and beat Newport [and] we played Bellevue and beat Bellevue,” Pang said. “Those are the two teams that we’ve traded off losing to the last three years. The fact that we beat both of them in the same season means something.

“I think what is special is that we did this well. We got this many entrants out of KingCo into districts, and we didn’t have a lot of the typical age and maturity experience, but we had the tennis-playing experience.”

The “age and maturity” Pang refers to speaks to the age of Mercer Island’s district qualifiers. Of the three doubles teams and one singles player to advance, only two players, Jonah Tang and Luke Boksem, are seniors.

Chew, a sophomore, never even played in the No. 1 singles spot during conference play for Mercer Island until the KingCo tournament rolled around. Chew was No. 3 behind Anderson, a junior, and Elliott, who is also a sophomore.

“To put it in perspective, if Zach is playing No. 3 for Mercer, he could probably play No. 1 for any other school,” Tang said.

Pang said he alerted Chew before the season that he’d be behind Elliott and Anderson in singles play until the KingCo tournament. Pang felt confident that when the postseason rolled around, Chew would hold his own and advance to districts. What was unexpected was how well Chew actually performed. The Mercer Island sophomore didn’t drop a set during the tournament.

“I‘ve never seen him play like that. I’ve never seen him focused like that and I’ve never seen him get fired up like that in a singles match ever in my life,” Pang said. “He definitely stepped up and showed a lot of maturity and a lot of intensity and energy.”

On the doubles side, Mercer Island claimed three of the four available district berths. Finishing 1-2-3 were the duos of Anderson and Elliott, Tang and Kevin Chen, and Boksem and Christoph Schmidt-Warnecke.

Qualifying for districts was especially sweet for Tang and Chen, who fell one spot short last year. Finishing fourth in a loaded field with three district spots available last year was Tang and Chen’s burden of playing Mercer Island doubles in 2015.

“We’re very excited to go to districts. It was really big for me and Jonah,” Chen said. “Last year, [missing districts] was pretty frustrating. But looking back at it, I realize it was a good experience because it helped motivate me, and I know it helped motivate Jonah, in order to do better this season.”

Now the Islanders head into their winter break, which on the surface, could possibly be a cause for concern. How could a team that’s rolling possibly want to take a break?

For some teams, that may be a legitimate issue. But during his tenure, Pang has found little reason to worry.

“I’m always concerned, but every single kid so far since I’ve been here who’s qualified for districts and has that goal of reaching state usually takes care of themselves,” Pang said. “I do all I can, but it’s up to them, especially the doubles teams that don’t want to let their partners down. So usually, they take care of business on their own. I don’t panic because I know there’s this tradition and they don’t wanna let each other down. There’s not a lot I really need to do.”

MI all-league honorees

Eight Mercer Island boys tennis players earned 2016 All-KingCo recognition.

Chris Elliott was named the 2016 KingCo 3A MVP, while Christian Anderson and Zach Chew were named to the All-KingCo first team. Jonah Tang and Kevin Chen were named to the all-league second team. Luke Boksem, Christoph Schmidt-Warnecke and Alex Kaelin earned honorable mentions.