A very improved and deep Dons roster went toe-to-toe with the Cougars on Thursday.  It was an eye-opening 1-8 loss and we were sent a couple of clear messages.  (1) The Cougars have also improved since last year, and (2) we have a few things to work out in practice before we play them again.  The toughest loss though was of our #1 player, Tyler Toni, who wasn’t quite healed from a hamstring pull and retired from his match after winning the first set 6-4.  The highlight match was the convincing win by #2 Nick Owens who simply dominated every stat category and won easily 6-2, 6-2.  We also had two matches that went to a third-set tiebreaker.  #3 Tucker Brewer put up a good fight but lost the decider 11-9, and #3 doubles team Sammy Foster and Will Lofting split sets but came up short 10-7 in their tiebreaker.

This was the first league match of the spring season.  The College Park match originally scheduled for March 14 was rescheduled to March 27.  Both coaches didn’t feel playing in hurricane strength winds made any sense.  The team goes right back to work on Tuesday, March 21, when we host Miramonte and on Thursday when we visit Las Lomas.  March 21 is also the date that our newest player, Diego Ledezma, will be eligible to join the roster.  He currently would be #5 on the singles ladder and we are looking forward to having him in the line up; almost as much as he is eager to jump in and help the team out.

Several of our parents came out to support us Thursday.  As always, the team really appreciates the clapping and encouraging words.  Though today was a tough loss, I’m proud of how the team handled it.  They are ready to put in the improvement work and recognized Campo for playing well.

Results – Acalanes loss to Campolindo (1-8)