When the Dons completed its sweep of the Broncos earlier today, it no longer mattered if Miramonte beat Campo.  Acalanes, with a 9-1 record, sits alone at the top.  In this Foothill Division, that’s a huge accomplishment.  That said because we have a lot of respect for the deeply talented Campolindo, Miramonte and Northgate squads.  At the beginning of the season when Campo defeated Acalanes 8-1, my comment to the players was that it was a gift, a wake-up call.  We knew we had talent too, but winning wasn’t going to be easy.  That loss not only motivated and fired up our players, but it woke up a sleeping giant.  Since then, the team has been red hot.

For those of you who attended the match on Tuesday, I wonder if you have any fingernails left to bite on.  I know I don’t.  Because Northgate has access to twelve courts, all nine lines started their matches at the same time.  #1 Toni made fast work of Lee putting us up 1-0.  Then #3 Bonner/Cortez won and it was quickly 2-0.  Then things got a little complicated.  The remaining five singles and two doubles lines were either very close or we were behind.  The next winners were #1 Brown/Hoeberechts who brought us back to a 3-3 tie with a tight and clutch 10-6 win in a deciding super tiebreaker.  Then it was #3 Brewer who got us to 4-3 with a close straight set victory.  We were down to two matches, #2 Owens and #3 Snyder.  We only needed to win one to wrap things up, but both players were behind in the latter stages.  #2 Owens split sets but was trailing 8-5 in the deciding super tiebreaker.  He then went into lockdown mode playing smart, consistent, and bold tennis, going for big shots when the opportunities were there.  He tied the match at 9-9 and then the players traded points.  His opponent started to cramp, but Owens stayed focused and tended to business.  He kept the pressure on and closed it out 13-11.  That put us up 5-3 and not only sealed the overall match, but it also gave the team sole possession of first place in the league.  Absolutely amazing stuff!

Once I regained consciousness, the players huddled for congratulatory words from me and the three team captains Brightbill, Brown and Snyder.  It was a memorable, exciting and incredible way to finish the league season.  We’ll celebrate and savor this win, but there is more work to do.  Coming up over the next couple of weeks will be the singles, doubles and team post-season championships.  Because we won the league, the team has an automatic entry into the NCS team championships.  

I’ll say this again.  We have a dependable and supportive group of family members, and they made the drive out to Northgate to root us on.   Thank you for being there as we crossed the finish line.  You are all a critical part of this journey and we were glad to have you there to celebrate with us.  See you at the DAL tournament Thursday.  Go Dons!  Coach Rick

Results – Acalanes defeated Northgate (5-4)

Singles

#1 Tyler Toni (A) defeated Jon Lee (N) 6-1, 6-1

#2 Nick Owens (A) defeated Ioann Timokhin (N) 7-5, 0-6, 13-11

#3 Tucker Brewer (A) defeated Nate Qiu (N) 7-6, 6-3

Dimitri Bezulin (N) defeated #4 Zach Snyder (A) 7-6, 6-4

Romtin Pourzand (N) defeated #5 Ace Reeder (A) 6-3, 6-3

Colin Sheldon (N) defeated #6 Luke Brightbill (A) 6-1, 6-3

Doubles

#1 Aaron Brown/Kaya Hoeberechts (A) defeated Jory Leach/Trey Schultz (N) 6-7, 6-0, 10-6

JJ Mattingly/Augie Lascavio (N) defeated #2 Sammy Foster/Diego Ledezma (A) 7-6, 6-3

#3 Riley Bonner/James Cortez (A) defeated Ryan Collins/Woosup Kim (N) 6-1, 6-4