The day was perfect for tennis, warm but not hot and no wind.  The rain is coming Friday and Saturday, so we were fortunate to get this contest in and stay on schedule with our league matches.  In league play, Acalanes is now 2-2 and 5-3 overall.  We have played some good tennis up to this point, but my gut tells me the best tennis is still in front of us.  The learnings from our wins and losses to this point has led to some very constructive practices.  It also has the boys focused and motivated.

Las Lomas is still rebuilding their talent, so I was able to rest a few of our stronger players to make room for the boys in the #13 to #17 spots on our ladder.  I like to do this for several reasons, but the most important ones are to give them league match experience and to get them qualified to play in the season-ending DAL singles/doubles tournament.  Though we were clearly the stronger team today, it’s always important for the boys to not let up and stick to their game plans so the matches are won with no drama.  As you can see in the score lines below, none of the boys were pushed and they took care of business.

I do want to recognize Kyle Shin, as this was his first official varsity match.  He played #6 singles and defeated Masao Tong 6-1, 6-2.  Kyle is an up-and-coming sophomore and graduated from the JV program into varsity this year.  Congratulations Kyle!

Next week on Tuesday, we travel to Northgate for a 3:30 match.  On Wednesday, we will play our last practice match against Piedmont away – also at 3:30.  We then go through the spring break week (Apr 1-5) without matches, so the boys get some time off.  I will never forget to thank our family members for supporting us.  Even against Las Lomas, we had several parents cheering us on — and a surprise visit from a couple of freshmen college students who played as seniors last year: Luke Brightbill and James Cortez.  It was great to see them.  Go Dons!  Coach Rick

Acalanes defeated Las Lomas 9-0

Singles

#1 Nick Owens (A) defeated Seth Raphael (L) 6-2, 6-1

#2 Tucker Brewer (A) defeated Christopher Casamiquela (L) 6-1, 6-1

#3 Sammy Foster (A) defeated Blaise Avalos (L) 6-1, 6-0

#4 Saaj Shah (A) defeated Armen Jamgotchian (L) 6-1, 6-0

#5 Finlay Fisher (A) defeated Enzo Lee (L) 6-1, 6-0

#6 Kyle Shin (A) defeated Masao Tong (L) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles

#1 Ace Reeder/Will Lofting (A) defeated Ari Riak/Shayan Gharagozlou (L) 6-3, 6-1

#2 Blake Marshall/Dylan Rocca (A) defeated Pyush Vyas/Rumtin Khorram (L) 6-2, 6-0

#3 Danny Goldwyn/Vedant Todi (A) defeated David Levin/Bohden Cormier (L) 6-1, 6-3