Though I didn’t personally play a single point today, at the end of this match, I was exhausted.  This season, we have now had five matches that ended with a score of 5-4.  I think the boys are plotting it this way as they enjoy watching the hair fall out of their coach’s head.  This win puts Acalanes into a tie with Miramonte for second place in the DAL with a 5-3 record.  Campolindo is now an unreachable first at 8-0.  There was lots of excitement today.  I’ll do my best to relive it in this article.

Contrary to our recent matches, as the contest progressed, we fell behind 1-4.  Four of our top five singles players had a rough day.  We put up a good fight, but Miramonte’s upper singles players are talented and played well.  The first Dons win of the day came from #4 Foster.  It’s been fun watching Sammy mature as a player and a competitor.  Today, Foster dropped the first set and then simply got dialed in.  He was swinging aggressively and serving well.  He turned the match around winning the second set 6-3 and the deciding super tiebreaker 10-6.  At this point, we couldn’t lose another match.  Next off the court was #6 Ledezma who won a hard fought battle against Miramonte’s Richtenburg.  It was nip and tuck the whole way but Diego ended up on top 7-5, 6-4.  The focus then shifted to the three doubles teams all playing side by side.  #1 Reeder/Lofting scored a quick and decisive victory.  Both were on their games today and never let their opponents into the match.   It was then #3 Patterson/Fisher who scored a 6-4, 6-4 victory.  Their serving, groundstrokes and volleys kept constant pressure on Waterbury and Eng, and they closed the match out with no drama.  At this point the overall match was locked up at 4-4.

#2 Tantameng/Marshall started playing together the day before this match.  Though unfamiliar with each other, they both have been playing doubles with other partners all season.  This was easily the closest score of the day and, of course, it was the decider for the overall match.  Every family member and team member on both sides eventually were spectators.  Tantameng/Marshall won the first set in a tiebreaker.  They then lost the second set in a tiebreaker.  The entire match came down to the third set super tiebreaker.  They were able to stay a couple points ahead most of that tiebreaker.  The Miramonte boys showed some signs of nervousness with double faults and unforced errors, but the Acalanes boys kept their foot on the pedal and their noses out front.  They pulled away to a 10-6 final set victory.  So many things impressed me about this match.  Senior Tantameng and Sophomore Marshall showed no signs of cracking.  They were in a zone, swinging freely, keeping their serves in play, keeping their nerves in check, and that lockdown mode won them the match.  The rest of the team stormed the court after to celebrate. Needless to say, both Coach Peter and I were extremely proud. The boys deserved this win.

This win keeps us in contention for second place with two matches left to play.  We will be away at Los Lomas Thursday (4/18).  Next Tuesday (4/23), we host Northgate, and then we move on to the DAL singles/doubles tournament next Thursday (4/25) and Friday (4/26).  Thanks again to our family members who were right there supporting us the whole match.  Go Dons!  Coach Rick