Leave it to Mother Nature to wait until we schedule our senior night so she can drop the temperature and turn up the wind.  However, it didn’t stop us from having our fun at this season’s last league match.  The contest would have been perfect if our top players Owens and Eagens could have got the wins as well, but we all celebrated the 7-2 victory that we dedicated to our seniors.  It turned out the win was critical as Miramonte upset Campolindo today 5-4.  We needed this win to stay in a tie for second place.  Campolindo finishes the season 9-1.  Acalanes and Miramonte in second with a very respectable 7-3 record.  Where to start….

#1 Owens played a great match today against Lee.  Though he got off to a slow start losing the first set 6-3, he dominated in the second set 6-1, but then fell behind in the deciding super tiebreaker eventually losing 10-7.  As the match progressed, Owens picked up his game and put a lot of pressure on Lee, but Lee was striking the ball cleanly and aggressively.  #2 freshman Eagens ran into another freshman in Lele.  These are two very talented players and the scoreline just doesn’t do this match justice.  The quality of tennis was very good but Lele simply played an amazing match.  Over the next three years, these two will most likely being seeing each other again.

#5 Ledezma was the first one done with a quick and decisive victory over Schultz.  Ledezma was clearly the better player with a stronger serve and more pop on the groundstrokes.  #4 Shah was second off and pulled out a nice win over Qin who pushed him to a third set super tiebreaker.  Shah fell behind early then locked things down.  His opponent was just playing the ball waiting for a mistake, but Shah played patiently and consistently and then attacked the short balls.  With this win, the overall match score was tied at 2-2.  Though the remaining matches were extremely close, the Dons squad won all five of them.

#6 Reeder was in a dogfight with Loscavio.  He won the first set 6-4 playing dominating tennis.  Then things got a little dicey and before he knew it, the second set was over 2-6 and the match would be decided in another super tiebreaker.  It was a nail-biting see saw tiebreaker where Loscavio was keeping the ball in play and Reeder was the aggressor.  In the end, Reeder pulled it out 13-11 – and yes Ace, YOU don’t lose tiebreakers!  An extra shout out to Reeder who was the only player to compete in every league match going a perfect 10-0.  #3 Brewer was the next to finish.  This was another close and competitive contest but Tucker again demonstrated his competitive spirit and grit.  He simply wasn’t going to be denied on senior day.  He closed the match out 7-5, 6-4.  And a shout out to his grandparents who traveled in from Arkansas to watch this historic event.

At this point, Acalanes was ahead 4-2 and the three doubles teams were on the courts.  #3 Patterson/Finlay finished first securing the overall match win.  They have been an effective and successful double team.  They had a close 7-6 win in the first set and then simply ran away with the match with a routine 6-2 romp in the second.  Though the overall win was in the books, the families and teammates wanted to see our #1 and #2 doubles successful as well.  Senior Tantameng and junior Hoeberechts played #2 doubles and were neck and neck with Collins/Khomjani.  Both teams were swinging freely and the match had its fair share of winners and unforced errors, but I applaud Spencer and Kaya for staying loose and aggressive and pushing the envelope.  It was a well-earned win, but we’ll be working on overheads tomorrow.  For now, we’ll blame the wind (wink wink).

The last match to finish was #1 doubles consisting of senior Lofting and junior Foster.  If you read my articles from 2023 or watched the matches, you’ll remember that Will and Sammy played together last year and were a dependable win for the Dons.  Pourzand/Sheldon are regular partners and no slouches.  This was an evenly matched battle and the scoreline was proof.  The first set was tight but was lost 6-4.  The second set went to a tiebreaker.  Will and Sammy held their nerve, went after the ball, stayed aggressive at the net, and took the tiebreaker 7-4.  This would be the fourth match of the day decided by a super tiebreaker.  And again, it was a back-and-forth and finally our boys brought it home 13-11.

This was the last home league match for our seniors and all six of them came away with a win.  The event shifted from tennis to celebrating our seniors and their high school tennis careers.  My special thanks go out to assistant coach Peter Brightbill and team parents Raina Foster, Suzie Lofting and Jill Owens.  This season could not have run this efficiently and successfully without their help.  We also had a huge family presence at the match and the senior festivities.  I’ll never be able to say thank you enough for the overwhelming support.  Even my own family members came out to join the party.  Congratulations Dons to another successful season.  Hope to see you all at the DAL tournament on Thursday.  The first matches start at noon at Northgate.  Go Dons!  Coach Rick