For years, the goals were pretty much the same: Beat Ben Davis. Stop the streak. Win a first sectional championship.

Done, done, and done — and all in one day, as on Oct. 3 the Covenant Christian boys tennis team avenged an earlier season loss to Ben Davis with a 3-2 victory in the sectional championship. The win was the first of its kind for the Warriors, and snapped the Giants’ 19-year streak of titles.

“It was a really big deal for us,” coach Mike Zumbrun said. “It was really exciting that things worked out the way (they) did.”

The day itself was dramatic, as the teams were knotted 2-2 — thanks in part to wins by Covenant Christian senior Drew Lovern (at No. 1 singles) and the tandem of senior Brandon Johnson and sophomore Nick Thompson (at No. 1 doubles) — with only No. 2 doubles yet to be decided. There, sophomores Adam Schuttler and Eric Steinke dropped the first set before rallying to win the final two.

“All the parents and all the players from both teams were hanging on every point,” Zumbrun said. “(There was) a lot of emotion and excitement, and it’s nice when you come out on the top end of that.”

The Warriors couldn’t come out on the top end of their first-round regional match, falling 5-0 to No. 7 Plainfield. They finished the season at 13-5. They also ended it with quite a bit of promise for next year, as five of the team’s seven varsity players are set to return in 2010 — freshman Matt Engum and sophomore Alex Walter are the others — although the same goes for Ben Davis, “so I think it’s going to be a really tight match again next year,” Zumbrun said, “both during the regular season and the sectional.”

Still, this year’s victory was nothing short of a breakthrough for Covenant Christian.

“To finally get over the hump of winning one,” Zumbrun said, “I think tells the kids that they can do it.”

Perhaps they won’t have to wait years to do it again.